Choices
by S.J. Hatecraft
Summary: Mike thought that an apocalypse was a good enough excuse to never go back there, but fate has other ideas. Now he has to deal with hordes, an impromptu adoption, and past scars that won't die. Who said living with killer animatronics was easy? Has a little gore, some adult language, and realistic situations. AU-ish. will tie fnaf 1&2 together.
1. Chapter 1

It was dark.

Mike could hardly see more than a few feet in front of him as he inched forward along the wall. The rank air carried the smell of smoke and undergrowth and the sound of flies. A small hand clutched the back of his shirt in a vice grip trying to leech the confidence that Mike always seemed to portray, and without turning he knew that her eyes were watching his every move.

They were an odd couple to be seen together. A twenty-some-year man with a five-year-old girl, but it was better than going alone.

And alone was not something you wanted to be, at least not anymore.

Mike froze as he heard the crunch of glass to their side and the small form behind him seemed to hug him. Carefully, Mike parted the overgrown lilac branches. He let them fall back into place just as fast when he saw the hunched figure of a woman kneeling over a broken flower-pot.

A tug on the back of his shirt had him turning to look at his companion. He felt a sliver of shame when he saw how bad she looked with darkened eye bags and matted red pigtails, but he knew he had to look even worse. Looking up at him with emerald eyes, she pointed towards the base of the lilac bush and Mike saw the molding form of what must have been a cat.

Doing his best to ignore the bile that stuck to the back of his throat Mike nodded and gave her a comforting pat before moving forward.

They hugged the wall, using the lilac bushes to remain obscure until they came to the corner. Peaking around, Mike could see a rundown front lawn, its picket fence hiding the street from view. The front door was hanging ajar and Mike instantly discarded the notion of spending the night there.

If the darkened stains on the threshold were any indication, the woman hadn't been living alone.

Confrontation was the last thing they needed. Confrontations were noisy, which attracted attention and eventually led to other confrontations. Mike was trying to get out of the city without any conflict, hence why it had taken them just less than a week to make it this far.

Gripping the crowbar tightly, Mike steadied his breathing before pressing out into the open. Behind him, he could just _hear_ her whimper as she clutched his whole waist. It hurt him – even though he had only known her for a week – to put her through this. Morally he was beating himself up for allowing her to be exposed to all this. She was only five for crying out loud! Girls her age should be worrying about making friends, not about being torn apart. She shouldn't worry about dying, or even have to contemplate the concept of mortality. But she was.

Then again, he shouldn't have to either. Almost twenty-one, he should be worrying about getting decent pay and finding that 'perfect' girl, not about insuring that he and a child survive a night.

It was purely by dumb luck, and the stubborn will to live that they were still standing.

Pulling out the small flashlight that he had found, Mike flicked it on and kept its beam directed towards the ground. With the extra light he recognized the house. It was actually pretty close to his parent's house. They were only a few houses away.

Not wanting to draw attention to them, he quickly stashed away the flashlight and began moving towards the street.

Another tug on his shirt had Mike ducking down to listen to what she had to say.

Standing on her tippy toes, the red-headed child whispered, "I'm hungry."

"I know you are Alisha, I am too." Mike whispered back scanning around them. He quickly led her over to the fence, so that he didn't have to look over his shoulder. "There's a house not too far from here that I used to live in. If we reach that, I'll break out the graham crackers. How does that sound?"

Alisha nodded vigorously sending her pigtails into a crazy dance. "Can I have a sucker too?"

Smiling faintly Mike ruffled her hair and stood back up. "Of course," he whispered.

Determined to let her – and himself – get a decent amount of sleep, Mike peeked over the picket fence. This street, just like every other had several cars parked haphazardly in the road. With the moonlight he could see several shambling figures move sluggishly.

Pulling himself up to hop over, Mike suddenly saw a grinning face lunging for him. Shoving backwards he went tumbling into the overgrown grass with a grunt as an unearthly shriek came from the other side of the fence. Stumbling to his feet he grabbed the fallen crowbar and grabbed Alisha's hand. "Come on!" He whispered fiercely, heart pounding.

Sprinting away from the quickly growing group of screaming people Mike and Alisha ran around the corner of the house, and burst into the alley.

Shakily coming to a stop for a second, Mike forced himself to stop breathing so he could listen. Dread settled in his stomach when he heard the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. A quick glance was all he needed to see that Alisha wouldn't be running for long. With shorter legs, and a smaller set of lungs she was gasping. He could see her trembling from fright in the moonlight.

Shoving away the self-preservation that was urging him to leave her, he crouched down in front of her. "Okay Alisha, we're going to have to run. I need you to climb on, quick."

Small arms wrapped around his neck – slightly choking him – as she got on. Mike gritted his teeth as he heard garbled panting come towards them and painstakingly waited until he was sure she had her legs wrapped around his waist before he stood and started running. Kicking up gravel, Mike ran for their life. He heard a scream come from where they had stood just a second ago. It sounded angry.

It sounded hungry.

The alley was a jumble of echoing footsteps as he raced along doing his best to not jolt Alisha too badly. Dark shadows caused everything to jump out at him, and he stumbled several times when he kicked a garbage can, or hit a broken branch. Behind them he could hear they're pursuers gain on them.

The cold shiver wouldn't leave him when he made it out of the alleyway and burst into another street. His parent's house sat far to their right, out of sight and completely out of the question. Taking a brief instant to look behind them Mike saw that there were at least a dozen of them. All of them were wearing ragged clothing – some bloody – and glaring at him with predatory eyes.

Mike felt his heart freeze as an extreme case of déjà vu gripped him. He had seen eyes stare at him like that before, just… not from people.

Spinning around Mike sprinted for all his worth down the deserted street. Past fears and paranoia was making him jump at every sound and doubt every dark corner. He heard Alisha crying into the back of his neck but it sounded distant, and faint.

The tattle-tale signs of an anxiety attack began making themselves apparent. His chest began tightening until it hurt, he couldn't pull in enough air, and he was shaking so badly that it was almost impossible to run. Yet he pushed on, running for all his worth.

It took Mike a minute for him mind to process that they were out of the suburbs, as building rose sharply on either side of them. Glancing behind, gasping for air, Mike could see that he had put a little distance between them, but not far enough. He could still see those eyes.

Those horrible, bone-chilling eyes.

Whatever control he had managed to collect in that short time was lost when he saw them, and he stumbled around another deserted street corner. He _knew_ he was going to pass out. A chill racked his body and it felt like he was choking. A fog seemed to fall over his vision making it impossible to see.

"A-Alisha!" he gasped dodging an overturned car that appeared directly in front of them. "I need you to… to direct me, I can't see." He felt Alisha shift somewhat and felt her grip loosen just slightly on his neck.

"Do you… see anywhere we could hide?" He panted, dots swimming in his vision.

For a moment it was quite before Alisha suddenly stiffened. "Mike, Mike we could hide there!"

"Where? I… I can't see!" Mike said.

"To your right, wait, no your left. Go, go, go… Move right or you'll hit the car! Now forward… jump the curb. Okay stop or you'll hit the d-"

Mike felt suddenly numb as his head smacked into something extremely hard. His balance took a vacation and he was falling. Faintly he could hear Alisha squeal as she went tumbling, and an even more distant scream. For several seconds, he just remained where he was, dots swimming in his vision so strongly that he couldn't even see the cement his face was pressed against.

Suddenly a small hand tugged on his shirt, and Mike forced himself to his feet.

_"Come… Mike... It's s…."_

Those small hands led the hyperventilating man through a door. Mike turned and blindly felt along, what he assumed was a glass door, until he found a small knob. Twisting it, he stumbled forward several steps before his earlier prediction came true and the ground rose quickly to greet him.

* * *

><p>It's funny, in a sense, how much you can purposely forget. Those bad memories that make you cringe in sympathy, or those ideas that you realize were stupid. They can all be forgotten, or at least, ignored if you try hard enough. You can forget embarrassing moments, ex-others, dates, or just about anything you set your mind to.<p>

Dreams however are something you just can't escape.

_"Hello, Hello! Hey, you're doing great! Most people don't last this long! I mean, ya know, they usually move on to other thing by now… I'm not implying that they died. Tha-that-that's not what I meant… Uh, anyway, I better not take up too much of your time. Uh, things are starting to get real tonight."_

_"Shut up," Mike muttered, purposely hanging up the phone. The fan's unnecessary buzz just helped his paranoia as he strained to hear anything. The guy's messages were never good news, and tonight he just wasn't in the mood to listen to it. _

_Ten minutes went by with him periodically checking on pirate's cove. He could hear Chika in the kitchen doing God knows what, and Bonnie was in the closet staring at the camera with a sly look. Glancing at the desk, Mike grabbed one of the six energy drinks sitting there and downed half of it. He nearly chocked on it when he hear footsteps coming from his left and he didn't even check before slamming the door shut. Something immensely heavy slammed into the hydraulic door, and Mike flicked on the light to see Bonnie's shadow fall into the room._

_Hyperactive fingers flew to the tablet and he glanced at the battery percentage. 72%... and it was only one in the morning. _

_A deep forbidding laugh echoed deeply throughout the building and Mike felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. That was his cue. Swiftly he slammed the right door shut and checked to see if Bonnie was still on his left. With no shadow present he grudgingly opened the left door. Checking the tablet again, Mike felt his breath leave him when he saw Foxy caught in the process of leaving his cove._

_The air was heavy with the sickly smell of cheese as Mike checked the cameras to find Freddy in the dining room. He opened the right door and returned the camera back to the pirate cove. Foxy was still there, and Mike allowed himself a moment's respite as he downed the rest of his now flat energy drink._

_The artificial taste stuck to his tongue as he threw the can away and checked the camera. Foxy was still in his mid-sprint position and Mike gave him a glare before quickly flicking the camera to see Chika staring straight at him. _

_Mike shuddered as he saw slack jaw, teeth-filled face inches from the camera and quickly checked the dining room to see if Freddy was still there. _

_That's how it always was, jumping from the slightest noise, going through camera feeds so fast that he almost missed an animatronic, feeling as if someone or something was watching him. Around and around he went, and there always was the threat of being stuffed into a Fazbear suit. It was enough to make him sick the day after his first night. And he had spent the majority of that morning next to the white porcelain bowl. _

_The second night had been a little better, he had some sense of how to make it, but the twist of Freddy, and now Foxy moving about was making him feel as if he was going insane. _

_The camera settled on pirate's cove and Mike saw his life flash before his eyes when he beheld the empty attraction. The tablet fell from numb hands and he hit the button so hard that his knuckle split. Not even a second later a dull boom echoed through the room as Foxy slammed against the door._

_Hardly able to even grab his phone Mike checked the time on his phone. Three in the morning. _

_And he only had 49% of his battery left._

* * *

><p>AN: Hello everybody! Recently I've been going crazy about Five Nights at Freddy's, but there are so many good fanfiction's already out there! :/ So, to leave an impression and combine two things I really love I'm spicing up the whole FNaF idea. Yes, I know it's a little cliche, but bear with me. I think I've got this... And the second chapter won't be too long coming.

That aside, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to read and to say I don't know how often I'll be updating this. I've got a few chapters I'm already polishing somewhat, but life isn't making anything easy for me right now. Hopefully I'll get a chapter out once every week or two. If not, by all means send me some flaming PMs.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: The idea of letting a chapter just sit around when it was done didn't sit well with me, so I'm uploading it from my phone. Excuse any grammatical errors, I'm on my lunch break.

I forgot to put this in the prologue but I OWN NOTHING! Only the plot, Alisha, and the emotions invoked by this story are mine.

* * *

><p>Chapter One<p>

Mike sat up gasping for breath.

The first thing he noticed was the searing headache. The pounding threatened to split his skull. Headache aside, what he instantly noticed was the fact that Alisha was nowhere to be seen.

That took precedence over everything.

"Alisha?"

His hoarse voice rang in the empty room as he reached for his backpack, only to realize that he didn't have it. How long had he been out? An hour? A day? Where was Alisha? Where was he?

"Alisha?" He said louder. No response. Now worried he pushed himself up and gave the place a fleeting glance. The bare wall showed nothing but Mike could have sworn that he had been here before. Pushing the thought away, he gingerly walked to the door and pushed it open.

An equally bare hallway greeted him but Mike felt his blood freeze. He knew where he was.

"No… no, no, we can't be here!" He exclaimed feeling as if his feet were chained to the floor.

The filthy carpet, the picture tacked walls, the small doorways… It hit him like a ton of bricks forcing him too lean against the wall or risk falling. He felt sick as the all too familiar pinpricks of hot fear crawled up his back.

This place… He was at Fazbear Freddy's Pizzeria.

He dry swallowed once, twice, before he dry heaved onto the carpet before him. Nothing came up, but his stomach wouldn't stop. Eventually he was able to spit up something bitter and his stomach settled down.

Quivering and gasping for air, Mike wiped his mouth and stood up. Alisha was somewhere in here. She was somewhere in this hell-hole. The thought of her alone in a place like this caused him to move forward without him thinking. When the light from the exit started fading though he came to a stop. He couldn't go in there!

He couldn't leave Alisha in there.

With grim determination he finally forced his feet to start moving. He may have been messed up by this place, but there was no way he was going to let Alisha go through that. Even if he had to sacrifice his sanity.

He paused when he passed a place that was forever ingrained into his mind. A metal doorway provided him with a perfect view of the small room. Somehow nothing had been stolen from the office where he had spent night after night and everything sat where he remembered. The small desk, the fan, the chair, the phone, heck even the chunky tablet was sitting on the desk.

For a brief instance he stared into the room before he realized that this is where Bonnie would have stood if it were night. This is where the purple behemoth would have been, staring at him with those predatory eyes…

His stomach threatened to start heaving again and he moved along.

Not long later he passed the closet – its content raided – and made it to the end of the hallway. There he stopped, knowing that if he turned the corner it would take only a few steps before he would see the dining area… and the stage.

Fighting what he had concluded to be another panic attack, Mike forced himself to think rationally. _Come on. The powers been out for almost a week, and the animatronics needed power to survive right? You might be freaking out over nothing. For all you know they could have been stolen. There might be nothing in there._

They were lies that he almost bought, but the fact that nothing in the office had been stolen didn't help his train of thought. What if they were there? And somehow he doubted something like power would stop the animatronics.

His choices suddenly dissolved as he heard an all too familiar laugh coming from further in the building.

"Alisha?!" Mike said, stumbling forward. His stumble evolved into a run and he came sprinting around the corner. He ignored the black door across from him that was the kitchen entrance and made a left into the dining room.

His mental image of the room was shattered when he saw the large room devoid of tables and chairs; instead, it had carefully stacked boxes that nearly reached the ceiling. The lights shone brightly, and Mike scanned around frantically for Alisha.

Relief washed over him when he spotted the little redhead girl sitting on a large box and he ran towards her. "Alisha! We've got to get out of here."

Alisha face turned gleeful and she launched herself at him, "Mike your awake! I missed you. I thought you were going to stay asleep forever." Mike caught her awkwardly before setting her down and looking around again. With the boxes though, it was impossible to see the stage.

"Come on," He whispered grabbing her hand and leading her towards the exit. "We've got to get out of here. It's not safe."

Alisha gave him a confused look, trailing along behind him. "What are you talking about? I like it here. And it's very safe, he promised."

Mike glanced around for his backpack but quickly discarded the idea of finding it. He could find more supplies when they were out.

Opting out of what he had termed the 'right' hallway – when he had been trapped in the office – Mike quickly steered Alisha around towards the left only to come to a halt. Disregarding Alisha's questioning stare, Mike listened.

The thud of something heavy impacting the ground was enough to give Mike nightmares and he yanked Alisha towards the other hallway. He knew it! Not even an apocalypse was enough to get rid of these things.

"What's the m-" Alisha began only for Mike to bring a finger to his lips.

For a second there was silence. Then, it desolved into chaos.

Behind them the kitchen door opened and the silhouette of Chika fell on them, while the form of Freddy suddenly appeared farther down the right hallway. Mike could hear something coming towards them from the left hallway and he yanked Alisha back towards the dining room.

The same scream that haunted him to this day sounded behind him and Mike was sure he was losing his mind when he heard:

_"What the?"_

_"Alisha!"_

_"Get him!"_

Adrenaline helped him pick up Alisha with one hand as he charged into the maze of boxes, while behind them the sound of pursuit nearly shook the ground. Ducking behind a rather large pile of boxes, Mike held his breath as he heard the animatronics lumber by. Waiting a split second, Mike pulled Alisha after him and he quickly retreated towards the exit.

A crazed grin broke out on his face as he reached the entrance to the dining area. He had done it again! Survived, made it, lived, whatever you wanted to call it he had done it.

His small feeling of victory was short lived however when Alisha stumbled behind him, causing him to lose his own footing and go crashing into the wall. Hot red pain flashed up his side and caused his headache to flare spectacularly. Besides him Alisha's eyes widen and she gushed. "Mike you got an owie!"

_No…_ Mike despaired forcing himself to his feet. The animatronics might have missed his run-in with the wall, but they must have heard Alisha.

"Alisha, I'm alright." Mike hushed, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards the exit. They could still make it, they could still get away.

"But you're bleeding!" She replied, not deterred by Mike's subtle hint to be quite at all. "We need to get a Band-Aid from him."

She turned to go back into the dining area and Mike scooped her up. "I'm fine Alisha," he whispered. Cumbersomely he began walking towards the exit, his fight-or-flight screaming at him as the sound of the animatronics started getting louder.

_"I heard her!"_

_"This way,"_

Looking up Mike saw sunlight filtering through a boarded up door and he picked up the pace.

Behind him the sound of heavy footsteps suddenly grew startling loud and before he could turn around something powerful slammed into him. Alisha fell from his grasp and landed on her hands and knees harshly while Mike was crushed to the floor. The air left his lungs with a _whoosh_ and dots began swimming in his eyes as he struggled to get up.

Self-preservation was screaming at him to do something, and since flight was gone Mike began fighting.

"Hey, stop fighting! You're just going to hurt yourself if you do-hey! Ugh!"

Getting an arm free, Mike shoved his elbow behind him, and while his whole arm went numb he felt a sliver of satisfaction as the grip on him loosened slightly. Alisha screamed as Mike kicked and squirmed nearly getting completely free from his assailant which he now saw was Bonnie. The purple bunny was only able to hold him with one hand while the other was cupping his eye. Finally breaking free, Mike rose to make a break for it, only for another pair of arms to wrap around him, pinning him to a furry chest. Mike felt his blood run cold as he saw the hooked hand and rusty-red colored fur, and no amount of flailing was getting him free.

"Alisha, ye be alright? This landlubber didn't do any damage to ya did he?" A gruff voice sounded directly behind him, causing him to go nearly limp.

_I'm going crazy,_ Mike thought, watching as Bonnie worked to his feet. The bunny still had one eye cupped, but with the other one he gave Mike a vicious glare. What happened next shocked him even more though.

Chika came screeching around the corner and immediately dropped to her knees checking Alisha. "Oh God! He didn't hurt you did he Alisha? Did he hurt you? Did he threaten you? Did he try to kill you? I just knew that something like this was going to happen!"

"Chika settled down," Bonnie said giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder before turning towards Mike. "Good job Foxy, he surprised me and nearly got away."

"Well, he seemed to be scared stiff right now." Foxy replied, his voice sounding right in Mike's ear.

Pulled out of his stupor, he began struggling again earning a surprised grunt from Foxy as he tightened his hold. "Alisha get out of here!" Mike yelled, praying that the five-year-old would at least try. Once again, Mike got an arm free and he used the hooked hand as leverage to pull an arm back.

"Stop it matey! Watch the hook, watch the hook! Arg! Why ya' little-"

Mike's world suddenly went for a spin as everything blurred and he slammed into the ground with a cry. His headache had turned into a full-on pulsing pain that coursed through his whole body and he heard Alisha scream again as he tried to catch his breath.

"Stop it you're hurting him!"

"But he was going to hurt ya. He was going to feed ya to those flesh-devouring bilge rats out there!" Foxy exclaimed above the downed ex-night guard.

"Let him go."

"Alisha just listen to Foxy," Bonnie said, trying to appease the now angry girl. "We don't know who this is. He could be a killer."

Mike found that statement absurdly funny, considering just who was saying it, but he did nothing but watch the argument with wide eyes as Alisha stared down the eight-foot-tall Bonnie with her arms crossed. In the back of his mind he was trying his hardest to make sense of what was going on. Since when had the animatronics talked? Not their prerecorded spiels, but actual conversation? And how were they moving so fluidly?

The redhead girl stared at Bonnie in silence for several more seconds and it seemed as if the purple furred animatronic was starting to get uncomfortable. He glanced uncertainly at Chika and the chicken, rolled her eyes before kneeling in front of Alisha. "Listen sweetheart, this man could have hurt you and that other guy you came in with yesterday. We don't want that to happen, so that's why we're doing this."

"But that's Mike," Alisha said pointing towards him.

"What?" Foxy sputtered above him. "Lass I think yer mistaking him fer someone else. Yer Mike is resting in the other room safe and sound."

"No that's Mike," Alisha insisted walking around Chika and coming to a stop right above him. Squatting down, she patted his hair. "And he wouldn't hurt me. He's taking me to a safe place, right Mike?"

Mike could only nod feebly, still under the crushing weight of Foxy and feeling as if his cranium was going to split in two. He could see the animatronics give each other worried glances before Chika carefully pulled Alisha back a few feet and Foxy roughly grabbed both of Mike's arms, pinning them behind him.

"Come on Alisha we'll go see Mike right now." Bonnie began, gesturing towards the doorway which Mike originally had come out of. "Freddy's just went to check on him so he-"

The door suddenly burst open and Freddy came out, nearly frantic in his movements. He came to a stop though when he saw the group in the hallway and visibly relaxed. "Oh thank goodness you found him. When I didn't see him in there I panicked for a second and though… wait, why are you sitting on him?"

"Who?" Foxy said.

"You're sitting on Mike."

Alisha smiled. "I told you." she said, walking out of Chika's grasp, and patting Mike again. "Mike does your owie still hurt?"

Mike barely heard her as Foxy lessened his weight on him. _Just a little more,_ he thought, waiting until he felt sure he could get free. Anxiety attacks be damned, he was going to get out of here! Shoving the red-furred animatronic to the side he jumped up and grabbed Alisha. Paying no heed to the outraged cries behind him he stumbled into the office and pleaded that the power worked as he hit the door button.

The door slammed shut with a _boom_ just as something hefty hit the other side.

"Me jaw!" a voice howled on the other side of door, it was quickly followed by the sound of pounding.

"Open the door right now Mike!" Chika's high pitched voice came through.

Feeling the beginning chest pains make breathing harder, Mike hit the other door shut as well. Collapsing into the chair Mike grabbed his side and pulled his hand away when it felt wet.

Blood.

"Mike why did you do that?" Alisha said looking towards the door then at him. Her worried expression grew when she saw his hand. "Ooh, that's a big owie. I don't know if teddy has a big enough Band-Aid for that. I'll ask him."

It took everything he had not to dissolve into a heap as he leaned over and grabbed Alisha's shoulder. "Don't! Please don't… You can't… you can't let them in here… They'll kill us. Alisha do you understand… we'll die."

Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Alisha chewed her bottom lip. "But, they helped us."

Mike shook his head.

"Mike we're sorry if we hurt you," Said the deep voice of Freddy through the other door. "We were just worried about Alisha. Can you let us in?"

Even though he knew that they couldn't see him, Mike shook his head violently. His hand glued to his side once again. What was going on? The animatronics weren't acting like they had when he had worked here. What happened to them? Was he insane? His head hurt so bad.

Alisha, can you open the door?" Freddy said. "Please?"

"Just a minute!" Alisha yelled. She turned to Mike. "I need to go open the door okay? I'll be right back."

"No!" Mike yelled, to no avail as Alisha reached up and pressed the door button. With a hiss, the door slid open and Freddy and Chika instantly crowded in. They halted though when Mike shoved both himself and Alisha backwards. "Just s-stay back." Mike gritted out.

For a minute there was silence as Freddy and Chika watched him with unreadable eyes. Mike felt like he was working his first week all over again. Trapped, confused, and scared. His eyes landed on the bulky tablet as he desperately tried to figure out how to get out without getting stuffed into a suit.

Suddenly Freddy's eyes widened in recognition and he gave a groan, slumping against the doorframe. "It can't be you…" He murmured in a pain laced voice.

"Who? Do you recognize him Freddy?" Chika asked. She hesitantly reached for Alisha, but Mike pushed her farther back and shakily stood in front of her.

The young girl was getting scared as the silence deepened, and she grabbed Mike's shirt. Behind Freddy and Chika, Bonnie and Foxy appeared – the latter hold his bottom jaw – and came to a stop.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked, eying Mike and Alisha in the office worriedly. He moved to enter the office, but Freddy stopped him never taking his eyes off of Mike.

For the most part Mike tried his best not to move. With one hand on his hurt side and the other in front of him protectively. The tablet was just in reach and was part of his escape plan that was fitting itself together in his head. Freddy's constant staring was starting to freak him out though. The animatronics eyes seemed more animated somehow, more alive. All of them acted and seemed more alive.

The other two animatronics looked from Freddy to Mike, confusion evident on their face, while Chika was now intently studying his features as Freddy was.

The strain was palpable as Mike did his best to control his breathing. All he had to do was grab the tablet. If he did that the rest of the plan would fall into place. Slowly, he moved the chair in front of him and Alisha, never taking his eyes off the animatronics.

He could feel Alisha start to tremble behind him and felt her press her face into his back. She didn't know what was going on, she couldn't. Just like none of the kids that had come to Freddy's had known that the animatronics were murderers.

It took a minute for him to realize that the fan was running. It's constant buzzing adding to the tension.

Freddy finally broke the silence. His deep voice startling loud. "Mike… we aren't going to hurt you."

Mike surprised himself by speaking. "D-Don't blame me for not trusting you." His plan suddenly flew out the proverbial window. He laughed humorlessly. "Because it's kinda' hard to trust someone who's tried to kill you for a week."

The rest of the animatronics eye's widened in understanding and Chika actually took a step back in shock, but Freddy just looked at him, hurt.

"It's really hard," Mike emphasized, his eyes feeling dry and gritty. He realized he was about to cry and he took a second to try and compose himself. "Don't look so surprised. What did you think would happen when you tried to kill someone? That they would just be all fine and dandy?"

"Lad… yer alive?" Foxy said, his voice sounding a little funny with his broken jaw.

"How's is he alive?" Bonnie exclaimed turning to look at Freddy and grabbing his shoulder. "_He_ said that he was dead!"

"Well, I'm not dead," Mike shouted. While they all had been distracted he had grabbed the tablet off the desk while his other hand came to a rest on the door button.

"Mike, we weren't trying to kill you." Chika said softly.

"Bullshit!" Mike spat, clenching the tablet tighter. He felt Alisha flinch into his back and he attempted to calm down.

Another uncomfortable silence fell on the tiny office.

"Mike… what's going on?" Alisha asked. Her voice was slightly muffled by his shirt but the rest of the animatronics seemed to hear her, as they all shrank in some way or another. Freddy slumped against the doorframe, Bonnie's ears drooped, Chika put her face in her hands, and Foxy looked glumly at the floor.

Their reaction caused Mike to pause for a minute before he shook it off.

"It's nothing," He replied gently. "We're just going to get out of here. Remember that safe house I was talking about. The one with the graham crackers? We'll go there. And I'm sure I can find you a whole bag of suckers. How does that sound?"

Sniffing Alisha said, "But I like it here."

"It's not safe here," Mike gritted out. Again, he noticed the animatronics react to Alisha's answer, perking slightly, and looking almost hopeful. How were they showing so much emotion?!

Alisha didn't answer, but she nodded into his back.

As the door hissed open behind him, the animatronics seemed to be snapped out of a trance, and they all developed a slightly panicked expression.

"Wait lad! Ye can't go out there. It's dangerous." Foxy said, holding his bottom jaw.

"He's right," Bonnie said, looking downright terrified. "Whatever you did yesterday woke them up. There are hundreds out there! You'll die."

"Please," Chika pleaded, taking a step towards them, only for Mike to back up. She stopped. "At least think about Alisha."

"What do you think I'm doing?" Mike said. He gestured towards all of them. "I'll be damned before I let Alisha go through what I had to go through with you guys." He felt Alisha flinch again, and he silently berated himself for swearing.

"But we're not like that anymore," Chika replied.

Mike ignored her and began backing up never taking his eyes off the animatronics.

"Freddy we can't let the lad and lass go out into that," Foxy said urgently through his broken jaw. His eyes locked with Mike's, making the ex-night guard freeze. "They'll be turned into fish chum."

Freddy sighed and gave Mike a side glance before looking at Foxy. "We can't stop them Foxy."

Mike heard Foxy growl something that sounded a lot like a 'yes' and he felt another course of adrenaline shoot through his system. Freddy shook his head though and gave Mike a sad look. "No we can't. Mike, I know you don't believe us, but we wouldn't hurt you or Alisha." He ran a paw over his face. "If you decide to leave we won't stop you." He raised a paw when the others protested. "But Bonnie wasn't lying when he said there are a lot of those… things out there."

"I'll take it into consideration," Mike responded. Still backing up, he exited the office and made his way towards the boarded up door. Freddy, Chika, Bonnie, and Foxy followed him but came to a stop outside the office. It was almost surreal to Mike the way they watched him start to leave.

The animatronics that had once wanted to kill him were now concerned for his safety? Yeah right.

Finally taking his eyes off of them he found the knob to unlock the door and he pulled Alisha after him outside.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, I slightly tweaked my wording in the last chapter. Thank you count-lurkula for pointing out my awkward word choice, I didn't mean to confuse anyone. Other than that all I can say is enjoy the chapter!

Oh, and I don't own anything. (obvious fact)

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><p>Chapter Two<p>

Mike squinted as the sun shone harshly down on them.

Both he and Alisha were currently hiding behind a semi-truck as several shambling corpses wandered aimlessly around on the other side. And while Mike was glad he had the smell of cheese out of his nose, the smell of rot wasn't much better.

Right now his head was spinning from what had just happened. So many things didn't make sense to him, like the fact that the animatronics seemed alive. Well… More alive than they had when he worked there. They didn't have the choppy movement that he had familiarized with them, and they were talking. Talking!

Rubbing his face, Mike glanced underneath the truck to see that those… things had moved on. He shook his head and gestured for Alisha to follow him. There was no reason to call them anything else besides what they were.

Zombies.

The world had gone to hell, and something straight out of a sci-fi had happened. It was almost stupid the way that everyone insisted a week ago that there was no such thing as zombies. The media had denied it, the government had denied it, and even he had denied it. Because in all honesty, zombies couldn't exist right?

When a blood covered woman had burst into his rundown apartment with Alisha though it was a little hard to deny.

The said girl suddenly stiffened next to him, causing him to freeze too. Looking up, Mike Gave Alisha a comforting squeeze as he saw a man a dozen feet from them. A bloody stump was all that was left of his arm as he gave Mike and Alisha an unnatural gaze. He slowly moved towards them and Mike felt his heart start pounding for what must have been the hundredth time that day.

The man's walk turned into shambling run as his good arm flapped trying to compensate for the missing limb, and his face suddenly split into a crazed, hungry look.

Mike pushed Alisha underneath the truck as she stared in horror at the thing running towards them and prayed that she wouldn't scream as he turned to face the threat. His empty fists tightened, and he silently quailed at the thought of not having any weapons.

The thought dissipated when the man dove for him, and Mike jumped to the side to avoid getting tackled. The man jumped up – ignoring the new scraps he had acquired – and dove for him again, this time managing to grab his legs.

Terrified, Mike grabbed the man by his hair as he tried to bite him through his jeans and felt a sick when the hair came away with quite a bit of greasy skin. Wrenching his feet apart slightly, Mike slammed the man's head down against the pavement and was rewarded with a snarl. Letting the man's head come up, he put as much force into it as he rammed it back down. Some blood splattered on his shoes and lower pants as he heard the skull give way. The grip on his legs loosened.

Yanking himself free, Mike panted from the effort of trying to remain silent and strained to hear if their commotion had attracted any attention. When he heard nothing he felt his shoulders slump in relief and he rushed over to the truck get Alisha.

The petrified girl clung to his side, oblivious to the gore splattered on his legs and stared at the limp man. "I want to go back," She whimpered.

"We can't," Mike said quietly. He led Alisha to another stopped vehicle and they ducked behind it when they heard a groan. Another zombie shuffled into view and Alisha buried her face into his side.

Watching the zombie stumble away, Mike began to realize that his rushed leave of Freddy's wasn't going exactly as planned. He wasn't saying that he wanted to go back, but they had come out here unprepared. The reason they had been travel at night before was because the zombies seemed more docile at in the dark. He didn't know whether it was because they couldn't see as well or what, but they were a lot more active during the day.

And here they were out in the open with no supplies, no weapon, during the day.

Mike refused to believe that it was safer at back at the Pizzeria. The animatronics were just trying to lure them in somehow. It had to be a ruse so that they could stuff him and Alisha into a suit.

Mike jumped when Alisha patted his shoulder and gave the worried girl a thin smile. _Focus Mike!_He criticized himself. He had to get them somewhere safe in once piece. Peeking around the car he could see that ahead of them was an intersection that had seen better days. Cars were everywhere, some of them even stacked on top of each other from the force of what appeared to be the wreck of the century. A bus rose out of the pile, looking as if it had been pile-drove into one of the buildings.

Beyond that though was the interstate which led out of the city.

To freedom.

Ducking back Mike leaned to pick up Alisha only to see her crying. "What's wrong?" He asked, worried that she was hurt.

Clutching to him she suddenly began bawling. "I want to go back," She blubbered. "I don't like it out here."

"Shhhh…" Mike said pulling her against him and looking around. He had to calm her down, and fast. "Hey it's okay. Alisha we're going to be alright. There's nothing to worry about." No matter what he said though, she seemed to just get more agitated. Eventually she began screaming into his shirt and he became frantic. He could hear groaning and growling of the zombies getting closer.

"Okay, okay we'll go back!" He whispered fiercely. Picking her up, he cradled the sobbing Alisha to his chest and stood up. There was no way they were going to get anywhere when she was acting like this and he needed something to defend them anyway. There was no way he was staying a night in that place, but… if it kept them alive he could go back for a minute.

"We're going back Alisha, shhhh… we're gonna' go back, shhh…" Mike hushed. Crouching as low as he could, he began to move away from the car and the sound of the zombies on the other side.

Alisha gradually began to calm down in his arms and she rubbed her face against his shirt as she hiccupped. Mike ignored the snot, and ran around the truck to make it back to Freddy's.

He couldn't believe he was doing this. He had sworn, promised, that he would never go back to that place willingly and yet here he was.

He came around the semi-truck only to come to a screeching stop.

Where only a few minutes ago he and Alisha had hidden, were hundreds of zombies. His eyes widened in shock as he beheld the mass of people standing where they had been just moments before. Bloody, grotesque and pressed unimaginably close together, they all looked around alert and hungry. Alisha jerked upright when he came to a stop and her eyes locked onto the mass staring at them.

The scream Alisha let out was nothing compared to the collective shriek that came from the undead mass.

Then like a tidal wave they moved forward, crushing their own underfoot in their attempts to reach the two living humans. The ground shook from the pounding of hundreds of feet, and Mike suddenly wishing he had stayed at the Pizzeria. Clutching Alisha even tighter, he turned tail and ran faster than he had in all of his life. Sprinting around the car that he had just been crouched behind, he spun around a lone zombie which was quickly crushed under the mass.

The mountain of wrecked cars rose in front of him and he didn't pause before launching himself upwards. Jumping on a blue Subaru, he clambered up a blackened car and then pulled himself onto another bent up vehicle. In his arms Alisha screamed something, but Mike couldn't hear it as another shriek came from the undead horde.

Like the roar of a train the throng of zombies hit the heap of cars, causing the whole thing to shake from the force. Losing his footing, Alisha spun out of his grasp and he began falling backwards.

His breath was knocked out of his as he collided with the hood of a car and he gasped like a fish as he clawed back upwards. Looking down he saw the mass begin to pile on top of themselves in their attempts to reach him and he redoubled his efforts.

He began climbing the pile. Ahead of him Alisha was doing the same; her hands were bloody from grabbing to the glass covered surfaces. It took almost no time for him to reach her and when he did, he tried to help, pushing her from behind.

The pile of cars shifted underneath them as the neared the top and Mike looked around hysterically for a way that they could get out this situation. They couldn't die here! Not when they had made it this far! Tears of frustration well in his eyes as he and Alisha neared the top. That's when his eyes locked on the bus jutting out of the stack of cars

An insane plan quickly took form in his mind and he didn't wait to think it through before grabbing Alisha by the back of the coat and yanking her to the side towards the bus. Shards of glass sliced his legs, but he ignored it.

Landing on the roof of the long yellow vehicle, Mike charged up it, Alisha in arm. Underneath them the bus suddenly shifted, threatening to send him over the side as he fought to make it across the makeshift bridge.

The bus groaned and shuddered, beginning to slide downwards and Mike made a last-ditch effort sprinting forward and jumping.

With a shriek the bus fell away and Mike pulled Alisha against him as they went tumbling into the shattered building. His side flared up again and He grunted as stars exploded in his eyes.

Rolling to a stop, it took Mike everything he had to remember to pull air into his abused lungs. Next to him Alisha sat up and started sobbing. Crawling over to him, she grabbed his arm so tightly her nails began digging into his skin. "Mike, I w-want t-t-to go back! I don't like it o-o-out here!" She cried.

Still stunned, Mike tried not to pass out. Eventually he caught his breath and the shock that they were still alive hit him. He slowly sat up and hesitantly touched his side. Pain flashed up his back at the contact and Alisha flinched.

"We're alive," Mike said somewhat dazed. He looked at Alisha and let loose a crazed grin. Ignoring the pain that racked his body he crawled to the hole in the wall and looked down. "That's right!" He screamed down at the mass of people below. Nearly delirious from the astronomical fact that they had got away, he picked up a brick and chucked it out, watching it vanish into the horde. "We're still alive! What are you going to do now?! Huh?"

Mike's realized he really needed to keep his mouth shut.

Far below on the street the multitude pressed against the building and Mike could hear window and doors explode. It took only a second for him to start moving. His short-lived high gone, Mike picked reached for the still sobbing Alisha and made a mad scramble to find the stairs. The floor vibrated from the number of zombies trying to reach them.

Somehow he found the stairwell by dumb luck and began charging up them two at a time. Flight after flight passed by as Mike ran for the roof. Somewhere in the back of his mind, his more rational side was pointing out the obvious.

What happened when they reached the roof?

Fear pushed him on though, helping him overlook the fact that once they reached the top there was nowhere else to go. They couldn't run away, they couldn't hide, they couldn't fight back.

They would die.

The light nearly blinded him when he burst out of the dark stairwell and he ran towards the edge of the building. "Come on..." glancing down the side, he saw nothing but bare brick wall. "No! Come on!" Mike yelled. Panicking he set Alisha down and ran for the next side. There had to be a fire escape, or at least _something_. He could hear the mob through the roof. The pounding of feet as they drew closer.

"Oh God, Come on! Give me something!" He bellowed, running a shaky hand through his hair. Running back to Alisha he peered over the side again only to see the narrow alleyway. "I'll take anything!"

"Mike! Over here!"

The sound of that voice froze him. Incredulous, Mike looked across the ally to the other roof to see four animatronics gazing back at him.

Mike wondered if it was too late to take back what he had just said.

"Mike you have to jump!" Freddy shouted gesturing. Besides him Chika was busy working on something on Bonnie's back while Foxy jumped nervously from foot to foot.

"We'll catch ya lad!" Foxy yelled.

"Teddy!" Alisha squealed, her eyes lighting up with hope.

"I can't jump that far!" Mike shouted, staring at the gap between the buildings. They were ridiculously close, but to Mike it was as big as the Grand Canyon. What did they think he was? A Jedi?! The empty space seemed to grow the longer that he stared at it and Mike took a deep breath. God, he hated heights.

Chika finished what she was doing with Bonnie and ran over to Foxy quickly messing around with something behind him, Mike was too far to see what it was though.

"You have to trust us!"

Mike let out a slightly hysterical laugh, "Yeah trust you! That'll happen!" He stopped though when he heard the zombie mass in the building below him. "Look, can't you just find a ladder or something?"

"We don't have time Mikey!" Foxy shouted, moving forward. He froze when Chika yanked on whatever was in her hands and growled something at her.

Freddy cupped his hands together. "He's right! You've got to jump. We'll catch you"

Mike wanted to deny it. He wanted to there to be another way with all of his heart, but it didn't seem like he had any other options. His time was rapidly running out too if the trembling rooftop was anything to go by.

The absurdity of what he was about to do didn't escape Mike as he grabbed Alisha and backed up. Here he was about to put his life into the hands of four animatronics that had tried to end it so long ago.

He didn't have time to think about it though. It was either get eaten alive, or trust them. The roof shook as Mike ran towards the edge of the building.

There were so many things going through his mind that he wasn't sure what was the better option. While both deaths were debatable for Mike he knew that he couldn't make that choice for Alisha. If he could do anything to help Alisha live just a little longer he would do it.

As he neared the edge of the roof, a grim fact made itself apparent.

He wasn't going to make it.

The certainty of that fact hit him has he flew across the black rooftop. Even if they did try to catch them, the combined weight of both him and Alisha would be too much. They would fall too fast, and become a blood spot in the middle of the alley. Behind him he heard the roof door burst open and he desperately shouted, "Catch her!"

Using his momentum Mike launched Alisha.

He watched as she flew through the air, her clothes flying in an arc behind her. He watched as she began falling, and anguished over his decision. Would they catch her? They had to right? They said they would! Mike watched as Bonnie suddenly leapt forward from the rooftop and caught Alisha in midair. _Great now they can both die together!_ Mike silently screamed, deaf to his death creeping from behind. He was shocked when instead of falling; Bonnie jerked suddenly and began swinging towards the opposite building.

Rope! That's what Chika had done! She had been tying rope around Bonnie. He could see Chika pulling on it and Bonnie being raised little by little, Alisha safe in his grasp.

A scream from behind him scared him out of his stupor, and Mike turned to see the mob of dead come charging at him. Gore covered bodies with grins so wide that they were starting to tear at the cheeks ran towards him, with insatiable eyes glaring daggers at him.

"Come on!" Freddy roared. "Jump!"

Not having any alternative Mike jumped.

Behind him, Mike _felt_ something brush his legs as he jumped, but he was more focused on the notion that very soon he would be falling. He was powerless to stop gravity as it took over, dragging him downwards towards the cement.

Looking at the opposite rooftop Mike watched as Freddy reached down to grab the rope and Foxy crouch. Like a bullet from a gun, Foxy suddenly sprang towards him and Mike was hit hard by déjà vu. As Foxy came hurtling at him, Mike could remember crystal clearly the gut-twisting feeling he got whenever he saw the red pirate fox come running for him down the hallway. Instinctively he tried to jerk away, but momentum kept him on his collision course.

He fought the overwhelming need to panic when they hit each other and the animatronic wrapped his arms around him. Foxy's grip was surprisingly gentle as he held onto him, but to Mike it was claustrophobic. Flashbacks of his week working at Freddy's assaulted him. The fear he felt was worse than getting dunked into ice water, it caused his chest to constrict and he went stiff as Foxy completely enveloped him.

A second later their direction changed and Mike saw a wall rush towards them.

_Thwack!_

Even with Foxy between him and the wall, the impact knocked the air out of Mike's lungs – for what he was sure was the millionth time that day – and he gasped for breath while Foxy let out a grunt. The pirate's hook arm fell limp with a dark substance running down it, while his good arm tightened its grip. Far below them the ground spun crazily and Mike unconsciously grabbed the good arm holding him. With wide eyes he watched as bodies fell of the rooftop and splattered against the ground.

"I got 'em!" Foxy shouted, his voice sounding strained.

They both jerked upwards and Foxy let out another grunt. Mike tightened his grip on the rusty-red arm realizing that it was all that was between him and the ground. It was the only reason he was still alive.

Mike felt something soak the back of his shirt, but he kept his gaze glued to the grotesque figures sprawled on the ground, his breathing picking up.

Finally after what seemed like ages, the feeling of being suspended vanished and Mike found himself staring at the blue sky.

He was alive.

It took a second for Mike to understand that Alisha was hugging his chest and he hesitantly hugged her back. He felt numb. Maybe it was because of the overabundance of adrenaline, maybe it was the fact that he hurt all over, maybe it was the knowledge that he owed the animatronics... Whatever the reason, Mike suddenly found himself quietly crying. He couldn't stop the hot tears as they ran down his face and he gritted his teeth.

Chika appeared above both of them and gently knelt down. "Mike, can you let go of Foxy's arm please?" She gestured to the downed pirate lying next to him, his normal arm still clutched tightly by Mike.

Embarrassed, Mike quickly let go of the arm and forced himself into a sitting position. On the other side of Foxy, Freddy and Bonnie were… taking apart his arm.

Mike watched as the matted red fur came off exposing the endoskeleton. It was clear that there were broken parts and the most obvious of those was a small pipe that was steadily leaking a dark oily substance.

Mike realized that his sticky shirt was covered in the liquid and he quickly ripped it off feeling disgusted. Alisha's eyes landed on his side and wouldn't leave it, but he chose not to look at it for the moment. The cool air felt amazing on his battered body and he carefully sat back.

"We've got a replacement back at the Pizzeria," Bonnie mumbled, tweaking something on Foxy's upper arm. The leaking stopped and the purple bunny replaced the wet fur. For the first time Mike saw that Foxy's eyes were darkened as Freddy slung the pirate over his shoulder.

Mike was so tired… and so confused. The world had gone to hell and he had been saved by the very things that had sent him to a psychiatrist. Glancing at Foxy again, Mike felt a tiny sliver of something worm its way into his emotionally numb heart.

Gratitude.

Bonnie came over and hesitantly reached to pick up Alisha. Mike let him and grudgingly noticed how Alisha snuggled into his chest. Chika came over with a coil of rope in one wing-like hand, while her other was held out to him.

With a sigh Mike accepted the hand and soon found himself leaning against her as they made their way back towards the Pizzeria.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Heyo another chapter! I'm surprising myself with how fast this story is progressing and I'm the one writing it. that's besides the point. Over a thousand view?! O.O you guys are awesome! I never thought that this many people would be interested. And thank you guys who faved and reviewed. Just wanted to say that, now you can get to the good stuff. Sorry if you find any errors.

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

For the first time in a while Mike woke up feeling rested. Lazily he stared at the boxes that rose up around them with his mind wandering from one subject to another.

How long had it been since he had gotten a full night of sleep like that? Not for a while. The paranoia that he had seemed to come in handy in a zombie apocalypse. It kept alerting him to the slightest noise or movement and kept both him and Alisha alive. The drawback however were basically the same thing, he would pop up fully awake at the slightest noise, which was physically exhausting after a while.

He slowly sat up making sure not to wake Alisha who was asleep next to him and slipped off the mattress. Putting his shoes on Mike grimaced at the fact that he would be wearing nothing but the dirty, worn pair of jeans he had wearing all week. His shirt was still on a roof several blocks away though and his backpack which held a change of clothes was who knows where.

Walking through a small gap that served as an entrance to their impromptu room he weaved his way through the boxes. Retracing the twists and turns he had made the night before he emerged near the dining area exit. Hardly thinking Mike continued walking until he found himself in the office.

Carefully easing himself into the worn leather seat Mike stared at the fan as it spun sluggishly.

It was ironic how peaceful it felt sitting there right now. With no imminent threat it appeared like any other office would and Mike could picture a newer computer and several files sitting on the desk. Reaching forward he grasped the tablet and began fiddling with it idly.

He had never felt conflicted about any of his situations before, so why did he feel so… Pensive?

From his past experience, the animatronics were killing machines hell-bent on stuffing him into a suit. But their actions yesterday had shattered everything he had ever thought about them. He didn't trust them – he doubted he ever fully would – but at the same time, they had saved his life yesterday. Alisha's too. That not something he could just look over, no matter how much he hated them.

Reaching down, Mike ran a hand over the bandage that adorned his side.

After making it back to the Pizzeria, Freddy had taken Foxy in the back while Bonnie and Chika led him and Alisha to the bathrooms. Although he'd been nearly drunk with fatigue, he had enough of a mind to clean both his and Alisha's varies cuts. His side had been a nasty compilation of bruising, cuts, dried blood, and the oily substance that Foxy had leaked, while both of their hands had cuts from the broken glass.

Bonnie had brought in a first aid kit, but Mike had refused his help in dressing their injuries. So instead of leaving, Bonnie had sat in the corner watching the whole process. To drained to care, Mike slapped some bandages onto him and Alisha before handing the kit back to Bonnie.

After that they had been led through the maze of boxes to the secluded opening in the corner. Mike thought almost nothing of the mattress and blankets as he and Alisha had quickly fallen asleep.

Setting the tablet back onto the desk Mike sat back and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

What was he doing here? He had promised himself he would never come back here after taking his $120. He had ignored the calls that the manager sent and changed his phone number. Eventually when he moved out of his parent's house he didn't look for a place in town. He moved to the next city over and found a different job – with better pay – and a small place to live.

He hadn't thought a single week could affect his life so much, but when the panic attacks started becoming more frequent a friend convinced him to see a psychiatrist.

There, sitting on a cliché layback couch, Mike had carefully retold an altered week afraid that if he told the truth he would end up in a mental hospital. He had been transferred to a therapist. It only took two visits before he ended up with was a bottle full of pills and a diagnostic of having panic disorder.

The therapist had wanted to try exposure therapy, but Mike had been so vehemently against notion that he had quite seeing her.

Yet after all that, he was right back where he said he wouldn't be.

Wondering what time it was Mike picked up the tablet to see that it was five in the morning. Setting the tablet down again he sat back and closed his eyes. A few hours of sleep sounded great right about now.

Just as he was getting comfortable though a burning scent filled the office. Wrinkling his nose, Mike sat up and looked around as if expecting smoke to billow into the room.

Guessing where the smell originated from, Mike rose from the seat and made his way towards the kitchen. It didn't take long before he was standing outside its door where the burning smell was and he paused for a split-second before walking in.

Somehow he imagined what he'd dubbed as Chika's lair to be different. A skylight showed a still dark sky while a wheeled table sat below it. Just like with the main dining room stacks of boxes were piled against the wall and Mike could see shelves behind them. His focus though was immediately drawn to the rusty looking stove that was letting out a startling amount of smoke.

Running over he quickly yanked open the oven door. Its hinges squealed as if in pain and in retaliation, the oven coughed a black plume of smoke right into Mike's face. Mike yanked back, his eyes burning profusely and his lungs trying to dispel what he had breathed in. Spotting a pair of oven mitts he quickly grabbed them and pulled out what appeared to be a blackened pizza crust.

"Oh, you're awake."

Mike spun around to find Chika standing next to an open walk-in freezer with her arms full of different cooking ingredients. Making sure that there was ample space between them, Mike watched as she set them down on a counter before turning to him.

"Sorry if I woke you, but I was just so excited that I get to cook something that I couldn't wait!" Chika exclaimed beaming.

"What?" Mike asked.

"I'm cooking you and Alisha breakfast." She said, walking over to a rusty looking stove. "I thought that you guys might be hungry after everything that happened yesterday so… I'm making you a pizza!"

Mike observed the yellow animatronic as she grabbed tomato sauce and struggled to open it. Finally successful, Chika happily began spreading it onto the blackened crust. Mike watched bewildered as Chika put on cheese, olives, and pepperoni.

"There!" She smiled. Producing a plate from nowhere she set the pizza on it and held the pizza out to Mike, making him jump back slightly. "What do you think? I've never really cooked for anyone before."

"Um…" Mike trailed off. The thought of eating what Chika was holding made him feel squeamish. He was starving, but he wasn't desperate. And he was certain that Alisha wouldn't eat something like that.

Realizing that he had gone silent Mike shrugged. On one side, he felt compelled to tell the truth: There was no way he or Alisha were going to eat that. And why should he care what Chika thought?

On the other side though, he felt like he should at least try and sugarcoat it. He looked up at Chika's hopeful expression and cleared his throat.

"Well… I think that it looks interesting," He began, noticing how Chika's face lit up. Literally it lit up. Her eyes started glowing slightly and she gave a large grin. Faltering, Mike shook the image of Freddy's glowing eyes glowing in the darkness and continued. "But, I don't think… that pizza is really a breakfast dish."

"Oh…" Chika said. Her eyes stopped glowing and her shoulders slumped.

Mike fought a losing battle with his conscious that wanted him to cheer her up. _She's just an animatronic. They've tried to kill me. I didn't want to be here anyway!_ The excuses kept rolling in, but his conscious just battered them away.

_You know that they're more than just animatronics. And they saved your life. The least you can do is give them a chance. _

Rubbing his face, Mike's stomach growled and he gave the pizza an accusatory glare. Great, now he was hungry. Chika still had a gloomy expression and Mike inwardly groaned at what he was about to do. Taking a deep breath Mike looked at his feet. "I don't suppose you would want to help me make breakfast?"

He couldn't stop from flinching when he was suddenly surrounded by metal wings.

"Can I? That would be awesome! I've never tried to cook anything other than pizza. But it can't be that hard can it? Let's start now!"

The hug vanished, and Mike unconsciously brought a hand to his chest, trying to stop his erratic heart from exploding right out of his chest. Chika moved around the kitchen like crazy, grabbing pans, utensils, and seasonings.

"So what are we making? I've heard of some breakfasts, but I don't know how to exactly make them. Like pancakes – how do you make pancakes? Are they like an omelet? Do I need a lid for this? Do you want something salty or sweet? I'm sure we can do both. We have a lot of food."

Snapping out of his stupor Mike rubbed his hands together nervously and pushed the thought of working next to an animatronic to the back of his mind. Food was taking priority. For the first time he thought of what exactly they would be making. What would Alisha like? Eggs sounded heavenly right now. He could scramble some. And Chika had mentioned pancakes…

Ignoring Chika's constant chatter, Mike walked into the freezer and was greeted with shelves nearly overloaded with food. "Aw man," He mumbled eyeing a bottle of maple syrup. Pulling down a packet of bacon he couldn't help but grin. Shivering with excitement he found the eggs and milk and carried it all back out to the table.

The trepidation of working next to the Chika was gone and Mike set to work.

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><p>With a sigh, Mike wiped a strand of black hair away from his brow. The aroma of eggs, bacon, and pancakes saturated the air, which Mike thought was a lot better than the smell of stale cheese. The table in the center had been wiped clean and the steaming result of his and Chika's work sat there.<p>

It turns out, Chika was a terrible cook. Her wing-like appendages had trouble grasping, and gripping things which Mike found out the hard way. Right now she was in the restroom trying to clean the flour off of her hip and legs. She had lost a whole egg-shell in the scrambled eggs, and she had managed to briefly catch her hand on fire. But even with her inapt cooking skills, their result looked good.

Mike looked at the early morning light streaming through the skylight and went to get Alisha. Quickly making his way through the boxes in the dining area Mike found the mattress he and Alisha shared empty. Her light giggling could be heard through the wall of boxes though and he slowly made his way to where the sound originated from.

Coming around a corner, Mike stopped and watched as Freddy and Bonnie spoke animatedly to an enthralled Alisha from the stage. He listened as they excitedly wove a story about a separated prince and princess trying to find each other. Their voices would sometimes change drastically, imitating the deep voice of a dragon, or the high voice of a fairy. Mike had to smile when Freddy suddenly sounded like he was on helium but he quickly wiped it from his face.

Deciding he wanted to eat a hot breakfast, Mike walked out into the open and both animatronics snapped their heads in his direction causing him to jump. Mike forced himself to smile as Alisha came running at him.

"Mike!"

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" He asked picking up the five-year-old.

"Good," She replied. Turning she pointed to Freddy and Bonnie who had remained on the stage. "They were just telling me a story about a princess named Alisha. She was just like me!"

"I bet," Mike answered. Setting her down he gestured towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"

Alisha nodded vigorously, clapping her bandaged hands together. "I could eat four whole granola bars."

Unable to stop the laugh that bubbled up Mike held out a hand. "Oh, we're not having granola bars for breakfast."

"Then what?" Alisha asked.

"You'll see," Mike said leading her towards the kitchen.

Grabbing his hand Alisha trailed after him and looked at the two animatronics still onstage. "Come on. You guys must be hungry too." Grin gone, Mike watched out of the corner of his eye as Freddy and Bonnie followed them, and was glad that there was a gap between them.

Reaching the kitchen Mike lifted Alisha up onto a stool and pulled a plate in front of her.

"Pancakes!" Alisha nearly screamed looking at the plate. Her eyes widened when Mike poured maple syrup on them and she didn't waste any time in grabbing a fork and gobbling them up.

"Hey slow down," Mike joked, laughing at her bulging cheeks. "They're not going anywhere."

Alisha just shook her head at him and continued to inhale her food, looking oddly like a chipmunk to Mike.

Turning to his own plate, Mike had to fight the urge to devour the whole thing like Alisha was and made himself eat it slow-er. He still finished before Alisha did, and he refilled his plate along with Alisha's. Before long the pancakes as well as the bacon and eggs were gone and Alisha was busy guzzling a glass of orange juice.

Sitting back content, Mike noticed Freddy, Bonnie, and Chika standing against the wall – the latter quivering slightly in place – watching them. Seeing that he was looking their way, they started walking towards him and Alisha slowly.

"So how was it?" Chika asked. She was by far the most bold – or oblivious – as she didn't stop until she was standing next to them. Freddy and Bonnie stayed back several feet though.

Alisha smiled and drained the last of her glass. "It was yummy!" She said.

"Oh good," Chika breathed out, sounding relieved. "I was afraid that the eggs weren't scrambled enough."

"You made this?" Alisha asked, turning to look at Chika.

The animatronic nodded and Mike noted that her 'Let's Eat!' bib flutter from the movement. "Yup! Well, me and Mike did. Actually he did most of it, but I scrambled the eggs and mixed the pancake batter. I didn't know what else to do and Mike seemed to know, so I let him do the rest. I learned a lot from watching him and-"

She was cut off as Alisha gave her a hug. "Thank you for making breakfast!"

"I-well… You're welcome!" Chika beamed.

Mike reached to pull Alisha away from Chika, but he stopped as Chika's rushed wording began to make sense. Had Chika complemented him? Why? He hadn't done anything.

All three of them turned when Freddy suddenly cleared his throat and gave Chika a pointed look. Ducking her head, she patted Alisha on the head and moved back next to Bonnie and Freddy.

Aware of the change in atmosphere, Mike sat up tensely. Looking around he realized that Foxy wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Glancing at the two animatronics to either side, Freddy looked directly at the human. "Mike, after you and Alisha fell asleep yesterday me and the gang talked about a few things. Now I know that you don't trust us, and I know that you want nothing to do with this place, but…" He trailed off.

"We were wondering if you would stay!" Bonnie sudden declared. His red eyes bouncing from Mike, to Alisha, to Freddy. "It's safe here. And you saw them out there. You nearly died yesterday."

Rubbing his face Freddy sighed. "Not the way I wanted to say it, but yes. Mike we are inviting you and Alisha to stay here at the Pizzeria for as long as you want."

Mike watched as all three of them turned to look at him along with Alisha.

"Can we?" Alisha whispered. "I don't want to go back outside."

"It'll be completely up to you Mike," Freddy stated. "If you don't want to stay we won't force you to, and we won't force you to leave either."

Feeling like a deer in the headlights Mike tried to form an answer, but it was like grasping straws. He didn't want to stay here, but at the same time it was starting to look safer than outside. The animatronics had shown almost no hostility to him and they certainly hadn't shown any to Alisha.

"I… I think…" Mike stuttered, realizing that everyone was looking at him. They expected an answer. But whatever he decided would affect not only his life, but a little girl's as well…

"I can't answer that right now." Mike said, standing up. "I need to think about it alone." Glancing at the robotic animals Mike turned to Alisha. "Why don't you… listen to a few more stories Alisha? I'm sure that Bonnie has a few more."

Bonnie looked surprised at the suggestion while Alisha smiled and hopped down from the stool. "Okay. Come on Bonnie, I like it when you tell your stories on the stage."

Mike couldn't believe he was willingly letting Alisha go with one of them. But he needed to think and to do that effectively he needed some space. Out of all of them, Bonnie somehow seemed the least likely to hurt Alisha.

"Just be careful," Mike blurted out, feeling extremely stupid for his decision already.

Bonnie gave him a solemn nod. "We will."

Taking a deep breath Mike nodded and watched them head towards the stage. Promising himself that he would check on them in ten minutes, Mike turned to the other two animatronics. "I'll have an answer by tonight."

"Take as much time as you need," Freddy said.

At a loss of what to say Mike headed towards the only safe place he knew in the building.

The office.

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><p>AN: I haven't asked before because it seems childish but... review? Pwease?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Happy Halloween! One of the only days of the year you can knock on people's door and get donations of candy. XD

So I've got a lot of reviews that say they don't want erm... so much as a romantic relationship as much as a strong plutonic relationship. Especially between Mike and the animatronics. And in all honesty, now that I'm thinking about it, romance would be really hard to write in this setting... :/ So I'm not going to force anything and let the story take its course. That doesn't mean that I've completely disregarded romance, but don't be disappointed if it doesn't come.

Thank you so much for the reviews though, they actually helped me a lot with the next few chapters. :D

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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Once inside the office, Mike quickly shut both doors and collapsed into the seat. For a moment he sat there numbly just listening to the fan buzz, but he felt the stress start to bring back his headache and he sat up.

He had never been good at making decisions. Ever since he was young he would either ask advice from someone with more experience than him, or put it off for as long as possible. It wasn't like he didn't want to make his own choice, but whatever path he took, it always seemed to be the wrong one.

Snorting, he sat back.

The last decision he had made for himself had been for the job here, and look how well that had turned out. If he couldn't even pick the right job, how was he supposed to make a decision that could mean life or death for not one, but two lives?

Humming some tuneless song, Mike thought of the pros and cons for each.

If they stayed here, it would mean that they wouldn't have to worry about food, water, or shelter, at least not for a while. It seemed like the zombies stayed clear of the place as well. But wouldn't they eventually run out of food and water? And how the hell did they still have electricity? Power was one of the first things to go everywhere else.

Obviously there would be some trust issues. Even though the animatronics had saved his life, Mike wasn't about to just forget the weeks' worth of terror he had been subjected too. He could tolerate them now, but he still had the mindset of finding somewhere else to stay.

If they left, it would ease his learned fear of them, but then he and Alisha would have to struggle to find sustenance and shelter each day. It would be survival of the fittest. And while Mike wasn't too keen on that idea they could probably find another group of humans and join up with them. A lot of people had been talking about a place north that supposedly was equipped for a worst case scenario like this. If they could make it there, they would be safe.

Thinking of Alisha, Mike frowned. What if she reacted the way she had before? She was young, far too young for all of this and with everything they had gone through he was surprised that she hadn't broke down before.

But if they left and got stuck in a situation like that again, with no animatronics to save them. They would die.

Mike still felt a little insecure about that whole fact. Dying… He still didn't believe in the whole heaven and hell concept his parents had. He could believe in demons and angels – especially when he had worked here – but an afterlife, not so much.

Realizing he was getting off topic, Mike steered his head in the right direction. He had two options: Stay, or leave. It was as simple as that.

But it was so much more complicated than that too.

Frustration started to build as Mike kept switching sides and he realized, he didn't know what to do. How could he even consider staying? And how could he be crazy enough to leave? Each choice had its own flaws and neither seemed better than the other. How could he know which one was the right one?

In exasperation Mike picked up the tablet and threw it at the door. He felt a smidgen better when the chunky thing hit the door, but not a whole lot. Mike stared at the broken electronic and sighed. Why did this have to happen to him?

Opening the doors, Mike stepped over the tablet and made his way towards the exit. It was close to the office, but far enough away that he didn't try and bolt his first night. Mike had to wonder if the manager had made that small room the office just for that purpose. Turning a corner Mike walked over the boarded up door and peaked through a crack.

Outside he could see the parking lot, and all the zombies standing in it. Bonnie hadn't been joking when he said that there hundreds and Mike would have pushed that number up to thousands. He watched as the shambling corpses stumbled around in the morning light before pulling back.

Getting out that way would be pointless. It was like the proverb of climbing out of the pot and into the fire.

The light streaming through the boards were suddenly darkened and Mike could see the outlines of a body against the door. Taking a reflexive step backwards Mike made sure the thing wasn't trying to break in and gave a breath of relief.

Unsure of what to do, Mike began wandering.

It didn't take long for him to realize that the pizzeria's camera's only covered about half of its layout. He didn't know whether it was because Freddy's had been so short on cash that they could only afford that many, or if it was to give the night guards a slight glimmer of hope. Whatever the reason, Mike hadn't seen a lot of the pizzeria.

Most of it seemed to have been abandoned long before the world had gone to hell with dust-covered shelves and bare rooms. But a few doors looked as if they were recently boarded up. Mike left them alone when he heard shuffling on the other side.

There was one room that he found though that he liked. It was small, but not as small as the office and it was tucked away behind yet another stack of boxes. Inside he found a tiny shelve holding several bottles of wine. He had no idea why something like wine would be in a place meant for children, but he didn't question it. Carefully placing one of the bottles back in its place he shut the door behind him.

"Why are there so many boxes?" Mike mumbled to himself looking at the pile nearly hiding the room. Finding an abandoned nail on the floor he cut open one of the boxes to find…

"Propane?"

Pulling out the small bottle Mike gave it a confused glance before looking at its doppelgänger still in the box. Adding it to the steadily growing list of questions he had Mike replaced it and began walking towards the dining room.

He could hear Alisha laughing through from down the hallway and he paused for a second just listening to it. He had never heard her laugh before. Giving a sad smile, Mike leaned against the hallway wall.

She seemed so happy here. When they had been there, in the confusion and chaos she had been quiet, serious, she hadn't smiled, she would cry in her sleep. Here though it was like she was a kid again.

After listening for a little longer Mike sat down against the wall and rubbed his face. Maybe if he could get a few of his questions answered it would help make his decision easier. And if he were going to ask anyone it would have to be Freddy. He was the evident leader of the gang, and he seemed more understanding to Mike.

As if hearing his thoughts the said leader came around the corner with several metal parts and tubes in his hand.

_Speak of the devil_, Mike thought.

Looking up, Freddy suddenly froze. "Sorry, I didn't know you were here. I'll go around-"

"No," Mike cut in. "It's okay. I was just going to start looking for you anyway." Looking confused, Freddy remained where he was. "I just wanted to ask a few questions," Mike elaborated.

As if enlightened Freddy's confused expression vanished and he nodded. "Of course." He came until he was several paces away from Mike before carefully lowering himself against the opposite wall. "Ask away."

"Why are there so many boxes," Mike decided to ask. It would be easier if he started out with an easy question.

He was surprised when Freddy shrugged. "I don't know," He said. "They came in a few days before we shut down."

"When did you shut down?" Mike asked.

Freddy set the parts down next to him. "Two weeks ago. A health inspector made a surprise visit and it didn't end well. We were shut down because of food contamination and some several other violations."

"So Ryland was too lazy to fix the violations?" Mike joked dryly. Ryland had been the owner and manager of Freddy's when he came to work, and he doubted that Ryland had been replaced. The man had seemed like he would fit better in congress than owning a pizzeria.

Freddy stiffened at the name and Mike gave him a queer glance. "You could say that," Freddy said slowly. "He just didn't have the resources or time, so he shut us down."

With Freddy's weird behavior aside, Mike continued with his questions. "How are you guys acting guys so alive? You move… better and you guys can talk. You didn't act this way when… when I worked here, and you weren't like this during the day – so how?"

Freddy sighed. "It's hard to explain."

Mike felt his throat tighten when he thought about his time working at the pizzeria. "Why did you guys try to kill me? And don't tell me the crap about thinking I'm an endoskeleton."

The animatronic gave Mike a sad look and shook his head. "Mike I know that you think that it was us, but it wasn't. We weren't the ones trying to kill you."

Feeling his frustration start to grow again Mike stood up and started pacing. "It sure looked like you," Mike spat. "So you're telling me that the animatronics I saw in the camera weren't you guys?"

"No, that was us…"

"The robotic fox that banged on the door wasn't Foxy?"

"It was Foxy, but-"

"Tell me why you can't explain?"

"I-I don't know if I even can."

Breathing heavily Mike glared at Freddy. "This isn't helping. If you want me to stay I need to know you guys won't try to kill me and Alisha in the middle of the night."

"We wouldn't!" Freddy said, looking hurt.

"How do I know that?" Mike cried, resuming his pacing. "For all I know this could be some kind of trick. Then as soon as me and her are comfortable out comes the costume and-and…"

"What? We stuff you into suits? That's ridiculous! What would we do after that?" Freddy growled rising to his feet. "What purpose would that serve? There's no point in doing it. Why would we do that to you?"

"Exactly! Why _did_ you do it?" Mike said pointing an accusatory finger at him. "You killed people. Stuffed them into suits." He took a shuddering breath. "I-I checked the spare parts room. I know what are in some of those suits. How do I know you won't do that us?"

"We won't," Freddy groaned. He ran a paw harshly over his features and gave Mike a distressed look. "Look I said it's difficult to explain because I _can't_ tell you. I want to but I just… can't!" His voice warped slightly and his eyes started glowing.

Mike started to get the feeling he was digging his own grave, but he wasn't about to back down now. "Why not? Are you not allowed? Is it against your coding? Your programming? Well, excuse me but I'm not going to wait around for a bunch of rust buckets to slaughter me in my sleep."

"One of the rust buckets saved your life," Freddy growled.

Clenching his fists, Mike had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting at Freddy. He had wanted answers… All he had wanted was fucking, answer. And what was he getting? Nothing but vague diversions and more questions.

"Why. Did. You. Guys. Try. To. Kill. Me!" Mike said slowly with as much venom as he could muster. His heart was pounding.

"Why do you want to know?" Freddy said desperately. "It's behind us. What do you humans say – forgive and forget? Why can't we just leave this behind? Do I have to spell this out? I can't tell you!"

"Because! Nobody just forgives someone who tried to kill them," Mike exclaimed. "Would you forgive some humans that came to try and dismantle you?" Pointing back towards the open office door Mike continued. "If you were stuck in a small room like that, with no protection besides several cameras and two doors with a limited power supply, how would you react? If those same humans came at you again and again trying to get you, how would you feel?"

Freddy remained silent, staring resolutely at the floor and Mike gave an angry shout punching the wall. Yanking his hand out of the hole, Mike let it go lax, focusing on the sting that traveled up his arm.

He needed to calm down.

Taking a deep breath he forced it out his nose and looked at his damaged hand. What was he doing yelling? When had he become so desperate for an answer? If Freddy couldn't answer his questions that meant his decision was that much easier right?

"Look," Mike said taking another slow breath. "I just want to know why."

"I can't," Freddy said helplessly. Looking up at Mike he spoke. "I want to tell you, but it's like something's stopping me. It's almost like _Rrrrrrrrright boys and girls! Let's have a-a-a-a great time and gracktch ralsie-awe..lil acht tchggl!_"

Freddy stopped. His voice rolled from an obvious prerecorded spiel, to sounding as if his artificial voice was getting strangled. Suddenly his body seized up and Mike could see his fur rise on end. His eyes lit up and he quivered in place.

Mike backed up in alarm, but as quickly as it began it was over, and Freddy collapsed against the wall, eyes dark.

Shocked, Mike felt his anger vanish as Freddy let out a painful whining sound and he reached out to grab Freddy's shoulder. He was instantly zapped with a strange charge of static electricity and he snapped backwards cradling his hand.

"What was that?" Mike asked. Slightly worried about the smoke coming from Freddy's frame Mike tried to shake the numbness out of his hand.

Great now he broke Freddy and the others were going to kill him.

"Come on Freddy, stop messing around. Get up," Mike ordered.

Nothing.

Reaching out again Mike cursed as his hand was shocked once more and Freddy snapped upwards. "Jesus don't scare me like that!"

Looking at Mike with wide eyes, Freddy worked back to his feet, his movements looking a little glitchy.

"What was that?" Mike asked again, rubbing his hand.

"Th-That is why I can't tell y-you." Freddy winced. He tried to push off the wall, but his legs shuddered and shot out from underneath him sending him back to the ground. Mike watched as the animatronic gritted his jaw looking as if he were in pain.

He reached out again and Freddy held out a hand. "D-Don't… you'll just get shocked-d-d." Looking as if he were taking a deep breath, Freddy closed his eyes and clenched his hands. The sound of metal on metal echoed throughout the room. "It'll end in just a s-second."

Unsure of what to do, Mike backed up slightly and watched the brown furred animatronic. His anger, frustration, and now surprise, was making his mind spin.

Freddy was serious about not being able to tell him, or at least it sure looked like it. Of course Mike wasn't sure, but he doubted that Freddy would voluntarily sacrifice circuitry. It looked… painful.

Mike waited until Freddy slumped in what looked like relief before moving closer. The smell of smoke hurt his nose, and he was relieved that it looked like it was stopping.

He broke the silence. "Are you going to be okay?"

Mike kicked himself. Why should he care about him? Freddy couldn't feel, he didn't have nerves to transmit pain. Besides, he wasn't supposed to be worried about him. He was supposed to be mad at him.

He was surprised when Freddy gave him a grateful look and replied. "Yeah, just a sec'."

Slowly he worked his way to his feet and started gingerly brushing down his fur. With a deep sigh he turned to Mike. "That's why I can't tell you. That'll happen every time I try."

Mike found himself nodding in understandment. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't like how Freddy had looked lying there smoking. "Can't you write it down? I mean, if you can't verbally say it?"

Freddy shook his head, "No, I've tried, the same thing will happen." With a grunt, Freddy bent over and picked up the forgotten parts and started down the hall. "Now come on, we'd better check on the others."

"Why?" Mike asked.

Suddenly he was aware that he hadn't checked on Alisha in a while. He'd completely forgotten about her. "Oh crap…"

"Alisha's fine," Freddy laughed at him. Mike felt his face heat up. "I don't know about Bonnie though. He hates it when this happens."

Confused as to what Freddy was saying, Mike followed him as he entered the dining area. Instantly Mike could hear a barrage of obscenity that put his mouth to shame.

"Fucking damn it, it hurts! No Alisha I'm not alright. When I find out what shit did this I'm going to shove a power cord up their ass and make them fucking cry like a mother-fucking bitch!"

Traveling through the boxes, Mike and Freddy appeared on the other side to see Bonnie storming around on the stage with a thin trail of smoke wafting from his body. Mike nearly jumped out of his skin when Alisha suddenly appeared at his side, hugging him tightly.

"Mike!"

Bonnie spun around at her voice and glared daggers at Freddy. "_You_… I fucking knew it had to be you!"

Slowly herding Alisha away from what sounded like an imminent fight, Mike watched Bonnie jump down and march towards Freddy. "Freddy you had better have a fucking good excuse for that! I'm still smoking! How could you-"

As Bonnie began a tirade, Alisha incessantly tugged on Mike's arm.

"Ow, careful Alisha I hurt that hand," Mike muttered, not wanting to draw attention their way.

Alisha ignored him and pointed towards the angry Bonnie. "I think that Bunny is broken," She whispered. "He has smoke, and he turned off."

"Uh-hu…" Mike said, still observing the verbal lashing Bonnie was giving to Freddy.

Mike would have been lying if he said that he wasn't scared right now, but it was more like a awe-fear. He had never seen someone this angry before and it was almost comical the way Freddy was trying to appease Bonnie.

Alisha pulled on his hand again and Mike jerked it away. "Ouch! Alisha."

"Mike… what's going on?"

Shaking his head Mike looked at the arguing animatronics.

"I have no idea."

* * *

><p>AN: ERM-MY-GERD! Five Nights at Freddy's 2! Dat trailer! I literally watched it half a dozen times trying to figure out the game already... no doors...

Okay, gotta head to work. I'm making pizza's all day. Seriously, I work at Papa Murphy's. I swear this story is taking over my life. -_-

Review? You don't have too.

~Random Author's note.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank God for daylight savings... That's all I'm going to say.

Anyway, you all think Mike's coping just a little too well. The reason why is because he hasn't had a trigger yet. Sadly, it happens in this chapter :/ So, get ready for a small breakdown. maybe I should switch a genre to angst...

Oh, and the reason I'm updating so fast is because it keeps the creative juices flowing. If I try to slow down, I'll lose interest... and I don't want that to happen. Please, if you see any errors just point them out and I'll try to fix them. There's only so much one person can spell check/make-sure-story-is-grammatically-correct.

Enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

"Freddy! Bonnie! Come quick!"

Everyone turned to see Chika run out onto the stage. Just like Bonnie, Mike could just see a wisp of smoke coming off of her, and her left eye seemed to be unable to choose whether it was a Christmas light or an actual eye, lighting up at random.

With a sigh Freddy looked past Bonnie at Chika. "Can't it wait until after-"

"It's Foxy!"

That got their attention. Without saying anything, Freddy and Bonnie ran towards the spare-parts room hot on Chika's tail and left Mike and Alisha alone.

For Mike, confused couldn't even begin to describe what he felt right now. It was like he was inside a maelstrom of emotions. He was angry that he wasn't getting answers, scared that he was being lied to, glad that the animatronics weren't their usual selves, upset that he wasn't going to make the right choice. Around and around it went, leading him back to where he had started with more questions than answers.

Alisha pulled him out of his musing by grabbing his hand once more. A hissed escaped him as he freed it and checked it over. He could see bruises beginning to form on his scrapped knuckles. And it still felt slightly numb from getting shocked when he had tried to grab Freddy.

"Sorry," Alisha said. Half jumping, half skipping she moved in the direction the animatronics disappeared. "Come on, let's go see Foxy!"

"No, no, no… I think that they'll take care of it," Mike said quickly steering her towards the kitchen. "While, they're doing that, do you want some lunch?"

Alisha nodded and they both went to the kitchen. Mike quickly grabbed the mess they had left on the table and stacked it next to the bone-dry sink. They had eaten breakfast only a few hours ago, but his stomach was gnawing at itself again. As he set to work pulling out sandwich makings he had seen before.

Alisha spoke up. "Mike?"

"Yeah Ali?"

Mike turned to see Alisha giving him an unusually thoughtful look. "Why don't you like Teddy, Bunny, or Chika?"

"Because…" Mike said, turning away from her. How do you explain to a kid that something cute and fluffy tried to kill you? "They did some things to me a long time ago… When I worked here, they… would pick on me and scare me."

"They were bullies?"

"Yes! They were bullies that picked on me," Mike said grabbing two sandwiches. Placing on in front of Alisha he bit into his own. "After a while I left because I couldn't take it anymore. That's why I got so scared when I first saw them."

"They scared you?"

He nodded watching as Alisha ate her sandwich, processing what he just said. Finishing her bite, she tugged at a strand of dirty red hair and looked at him. "Well, you should do what they do at school." She stated.

Mike half smiled, "And what did you do at school?"

"Well first you get a teacher," Alisha began, pushing away her crust she looked at him seriously. "And then the teacher gets the bully and kid together. They can't yell, but they have to talk to each other. The bully and kid tell each other about how the-the bully being mean makes them feel."

"And what happens after that?" Mike asked jokingly. It was adorable how serious Alisha was about this, but this was a solution for a kids fight.

"Then if the bully says that he's sorry the kid forgives him. And they hug."

Grinning, Mike ruffled her hair, "I'll have to try that sometimes, sounds like a great way to make things better."

"It is," Alisha assured. Hopping down from the stool she walked over to him and gave him a hug. "See?"

"I feel better already," Mike laughed.

Looking up, he saw Chika standing in the doorway. Like being yanked underwater, the image of the same animatronic staring at him through a dirty window came to him. His heart started racing and his hand automatically went to push a button that wasn't there.

"Mike we need your help," The robotic chicken said. Rushing into the room she grabbed his arm and began dragging him after her.

"No wait, stop… Stop!" Mike panicked fighting the grip on his arm. He could feel his throat tightening and the air turned suffocatingly hot.

Chika either didn't hear him, or didn't care as she didn't stop before plunging into the maze of boxes. "We can't, there's no time!"

To Mike's horror he realized she was tugging him straight towards the spare-parts room. The room that had endoskeletons… the room that had empty suits, not-empty suits…

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><p><em>Uh, if they happen to see you after hours they probably won't recognize you as a person. They'll-They'll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without its costume on. Now, since that's against the rules at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, they'll probably try to… forcefully stuff you inside a Freddy Fazbear suit. <em>

_Um… that wouldn't be so bad if the suits themselves weren't filled with crossbeams, wires, and animatronic devices, especially around the facial area, so you can imagine how having your head forced inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort… and death._

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><p>As if a switch went off in his head, Mike snapped.<p>

Ignoring the pain flashing up his arm he tried to yank his hand out of Chika's grasp. Using one of the box piles as an anchor, he hardly managed to gasp out. "I'm not… Going… in… There!"

Chika came to a stop, her eyes full of confusion. "What are you talking about."

"You can't make me!" Mike growled. His abused arm came free and he instantly began backing up from Chika. His chest hurt he was breathing so hard. He felt cold and hot at the same time as air ran over his exposed back, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when Alisha appeared out of nowhere.

"I won't let you!"

Surprised, Alisha reached out carefully. "Mike, you're getting sick again."

"She's going to kill us…"

"Mike-"

"I can't die. I won't let you kill me!"

Chika held her hands out in front of her, trying to approach the ex-night guard. "Mike, I'm not going to kill you. We need your help with stabilizing Foxy."

Mike shook his head viciously. Whatever little tolerance or trust that had been building between him and the animatronics snapped, just like that. His old fears came rushing back so hard that he felt sick. Gasping for breath Mike glanced around desperately for something to defend himself with. He knew it, knew that they were trying to lure him back there. Why had he evened considered staying here?

"Mike," Alisha said softly walking over to him. "You're getting sick. You need your medicine."

"No Alisha I'm fine I just… I just can't stay here anymore!" Mike tried not to shout, he tried so hard that it felt like he was about to cry. "We have to get out of here. They're going to kills us." Mike watched as Chika backed up with wide eyes before she turned and bolting. He felt like doing the same.

"Come on Alisha we're leaving." Turning to Alisha he took a step towards her and she took one back. Confused he reached out to grab her and she hopped back. "Alisha… Come on we've got to get out of here while they're gone."

Alisha shook her head. "You're sick again."

"I'm not sick!" Mike spat. He stopped when Alisha jumped and took a deep breath. "I-I'm not sick Alisha. I just can't stay here anymore."

"You're sick," Alisha stated. "I'll get the good medicine." Turning she ran in the direction Chika had disappeared.

Mike sputtered out a curse and ran after her, his heart beating out of his chest. He tried desperately to catch up to her, but she had too much of a head start. He made it around a pile of boxes just in time to see her vanish behind the stage. As if caught by an invisible net, Mike froze. It was obvious where she was going. It was the one place where he couldn't even bring himself to fully think about.

Biting his lip, Mike quivered in place. He began walking to where he knew Alisha had gone, and then turned to the exit. Some machine began to drone somewhere in the boxes and Mike clenched his hands.

She had run into the spare-parts room. He could imagine it now, picture it so clearly. Dim lighting… Endoskeletons, empty suits… full suits.

Mike suddenly became acutely aware that he was going to throw up and tried to take slow deep breaths, but it wasn't working.

"Alisha!" Mike shouted.

Nothing.

Not fully in control Mike stumbled away from the stage back through the boxes. He loathed himself for not being able to follow Alisha, but he could not pull up an ounce of courage. Mentally he beat himself up for not being able to go save Alisha. He felt tears well in his eyes as his feet began carrying him while his mind pulled up images.

* * *

><p><em>It was almost twelve. <em>

_He had told himself he would spend a minute, two max, in this room fulfilling the last night guard's request, and to answer a few questions he had. Somehow that minute had turned into five, and Mike still couldn't move. _

_He could have walked away, walked away and lived his life without knowing… _

_He felt like he was in a trance as he slowly tried to push the last animatronic suit back into place. It was heavy, far heavier than just a suit should weigh. And the limbs kept flopping around like deadweights. Like decaying snakes…_

_His hands trembled so much that the head started to loll back and forth. The sound of something getting squished over and over again sounded as the head went back and forth. Blackened fluids started running out of the gaps between the suit and Mike let go reflexively. His hands were covered in the stuff…_

_Tears blurred his vision as the suit fell onto the ground and the back of the head fell off. _

_Hair._

_Human hair. _

_He tripped over his own feet in his haste to leave the room, and in his fear addled state he thought he could hear labored breathing, wheezing. As if someone was in the suit, holding onto what little life they could. He could imagine that suit head turning to regard him as he left, watching him as he fled._

* * *

><p>Leaning over, Mike puked the sandwich he had just eaten against the wall. His hands felt warm, wet, sticky…<p>

Gulping in air, Mike continued his drunken-like stumble into the office and he shut both doors. He would have thought that here, behind two doors, with no limited power supply he would feel safe, but he didn't. He kept seeing shadows in the window. He kept seeing after images of Bonnie and Chika. He kept seeing that animatronic.

Suddenly the mirror image of Freddy, only golden appeared in front of him, sitting on the desk limp and lifeless. The scream that bubbled up died in his throat as it disappeared and he stared at the place where it had rested just a moment ago.

He began rubbing his hands harshly, trying to get rid of the sticky feeling.

Through the window, one of the shadows detached itself from the rest and rushed towards the door. It quickly transformed into the form of Alisha who was being followed by Freddy. Mike froze in horror as a thud echoed through the small room.

"Mike it's me," Alisha's voice said, muffled. "I've got the good medicine. Let me in."

Mike let out shaky, relieved breath. At least Alisha wasn't dead because of his cowardice "Tell him to go away first," He said. "I'll let you in, but I can't with him right there."

"Mike," Freddy's said. "Let us in. Alisha keeps talking about you needing your medicine. What's this medicine that she's talking about? Are you sick? I can help."

"Go away!" Mike screamed. He stopped when a whimper tried to escape him and clutched his head. Whatever confidence he had that they wouldn't kill him was gone. He was positive that they would try to kill him.

There was silence on the other side of the door before Freddy spoke up. "Mike… I'm going to go down the hall so that you can let in Alisha okay? I'm going away." The form of Freddy appeared in the window and Mike watched as the brown animatronic disappeared from sight. Debating with himself for several seconds, Mike finally decided to open the door, nab Alisha, and shut it.

Hitting the button he instantly saw that Alisha was out of reach.

"Alisha come on!" Mike hissed.

Clutching his backpack, Alisha nodded and hurried into the room, immediately hugging him.

Looking down at her, Mike caught movement out of the corner of his eye and he turned to see Freddy rushing forward. Dread clutched him as his hand shot up to hit the door button, but instead of hitting the button, it only came into contact with the furry, wet paw of Freddy.

"No!" Mike yelled. Turning he lunged for the other door only to be blocked by the surprisingly fast Freddy. Unable to catch his breath Mike stumbled back into the desk, knocking the computer tower onto the floor. He shoved himself up onto it when Freddy shut both doors trapping him, Alisha, with him.

Freddy tried to wipe a dark viscous liquid off of his arms as he gave Mike a concerned look. "Mike, what's the matter? First Chika came in, saying that you were acting crazy, and then Alisha came running in telling us that you needed your medicine."

"G-Get out," Mike said, barely able to get the words through his clenched jaw. His chest ached.

Freddy gave him an odd look before shaking his head. "No."

"Get out!"

"No!"

"Get out!" Mike screamed. Picking up the creepy cupcake that had always sat on the desk he chucked the rock hard thing at Freddy. The animatronic winced as it made contact, but didn't move. "Leave me alone, please!" Mike begged. "Just leave me alone." He was as far as he could get from Freddy in the small enclosed room which was on top of the desk and against the wall.

"Mike I've got the good medicine…" Alisha said softly. Mike couldn't take his eyes off of Freddy as he felt Alisha press the small pill into his hand, and an old water bottle into the other. Clenching it harshly, Mike fought the urge to throw it at Freddy and quickly put it into his mouth. The action eased him just the tiniest bit, but Mike's heart refused to calm down.

The whole time Freddy remained where he was. His eyes tracked every movement Mike made.

"Mike…" Freddy said as gently as he could. "What's wrong with you?"

Mike shook his head, "I need to get out of here. I can't stay here anymore." He took a shuddering breath. "I won't let you stuff me into a suit."

"We wouldn't do that to you Mike," Freddy said. Slowly he pulled the seat towards him and sat in it. "Remember the little talk we had in the hallway? What would we accomplish by killing you?"

"Then why was Chika dragging me to that room?!" Mike shouted. "She was going to stuff me into a suit, I just know it! Don't tell me she wasn't."

Freddy studied him for a moment before replying. "She was trying to get you to come and help us. Foxy did something to himself and he was… bleeding out." As if to prove his point he lifted up his arms. For a moment Mike thought they were covered in actual blood, nearly sending him into cardiac arrest, but with a second glance he saw that it was the same oily substance that Foxy had spilled on him.

"We needed your help with something that none of us could reach, so she tried to get you."

The medicine was starting to work. Mike was able to stop gasping for air and think a little more clearly. But he still didn't believe Freddy. Wiping his hands to rid them of the sticky feeling, Mike looked for a way he could get out. Freddy saw this and quickly stood up. Mike froze.

Alisha, who had been watching the whole thing, hopped up onto the desk and patted Mike on the shoulder. "The medicine will make you feel better Mikey." She said, pushing herself until she was sitting against him. "Now you won't be sick anymore."

"I'm… I'm not sick Alisha," Mike muttered. Alisha was correct about him feeling better though. That little pill was doing its job. Now if only the hulking animatronic could leave him alone, he might be able to pull himself together.

The said animatronic slowly sat back down and tried to clean his hands off, smearing it on his thighs. Every so often Freddy would glance back up at the two humans, and Mike would freeze, but slowly, surely, he was beginning to calm down. Alisha sat with her back against his side, content with the piece of string she had in her hands. Eventually Mike got tired of staying in one position for so long and sat up.

Freddy was the one to freeze this time, and Mike took a deep breath collecting his scattered thoughts. He still felt shaken, weak, he still felt like a coward. But at least he seemed to be able to control himself now.

He was glad that this attack hadn't been a bad one, or else he would have really been in trouble.

Alisha looked up at him and smiled. "Did the medicine work?"

"Yeah… it worked," Mike answered. He still felt immensely insecure with Freddy in close proximity to him, but he wasn't freaking out. He gently ruffled Alisha's hair. "Good job remembering to grab my medicine."

Beaming she reached up and did the same to Mike, earning a smile. "Don't worry. I'll take care of you."

Mike tried to smile, and failed miserably.

Freddy seemed to sense this and his concerned look only grew.

Giggling, Alisha jumped down and walked over to Freddy, grabbing his paw. "Okay, he's better. You can go fix Foxy again."

Freddy gave Alisha an unsure glance before turning to eye Mike. The ex-night guard closed his eyes for a moment before looking at Freddy. "I'm fine," He stated.

Inside he knew that he wasn't fine. He couldn't even be near the animatronics for a day without feeling like he was about to fall apart, but if he said he wasn't fine Freddy would probably stay and that he couldn't stand.

Freddy watched him for another moment before nodding. Opening the door he held out a hand for Alisha, but pulled it back when Mike sat up suddenly. Mike still felt terrible for just abandoning Alisha, he wasn't going to do it again.

"…Hey Alisha why don't you stay with Mike. Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." Freddy said uncertainly.

"Okay!" She said happily.

Mike watched as Freddy quickly made his way down the hallway. Once he was sure that he was gone, Mike groaned and covered his face. He felt terrible. You weren't supposed to take the medication on an empty stomach, and his lunch sat somewhere on the floor. Again, he tried to rub the dried fluids off his hands. The hand that had he punched the wall with hurt. It probably didn't help that it had been shocked twice either.

Shivering he shut off the fan and watched as Alisha sat in the chair, messing with her shirt. His eyes wandered to his backpack that sat against the wall and he picked it up. Now that he thought about it, he had been without a shirt all day. Rummaging through the bag he eventually managed to find a clean-ish shirt and pulled it on.

He needed a shower, Alisha did too, but there was no chance of that happening right now. There was a shower, but it was eerily close to the spare-parts room.

Drawing comfort from the familiar object, he zipped it up and slung it on. Somehow he felt more prepared with it. Alisha looked up at him and cocked her head to the side. "Mike?"

"Yeah Alisha?" Mike said.

"When is my mom going to come back?"

Mike felt his heart drop. This wasn't the first time Alisha had asked this question, and he doubted it was the last. Pulling off his backpack he began digging around. "You remember what your mom said right?" He asked.

"Yup," Alisha said. She started messing around with the piece of string from earlier. "I've got to stay with you until she comes back. But I don't know when she's coming back."

Mike found what he was looking for and he gave Alisha a Tootsie pop. "I don't know either Alisha… Alisha, you do know that your mom may never come back right?"

Alisha nodded. "I know. But is she coming back soon?"

Mike bit his lip. Alisha didn't get it, just like she hadn't gotten it when her mother had left her with him. Just like how she was so trusting of the animatronics. She was just too young to know.

Placing the backpack onto his shoulders Mike rubbed his hands. "Hey Alisha, where did you get my backpack from?"

"It was in the room where Foxy was," Alisha said. "Freddy put it there when you fell asleep after hitting your head."

Nodding, Mike sat on the desk as Alisha ate her treat. Had Freddy done that on purpose? Or was it just coincidence? The answer didn't come.

As his eyes mapped out the tiny room, they settled on the cupcake he had thrown at Freddy. With a sigh he fetched it and set it back in its rightful place.

When he really thought about it, he knew that he had overreacted. So far the animatronics had done nothing to try and hurt him. In fact, they had done the opposite and saved his life. But… How could he trust them? Especially after everything they had done?

Freddy's explanation to why Chika had been dragging him to that room could have been true…

Feeling sick, Mike rested his head on his knees. Why did it have to be his life that was so screwed up?

* * *

><p><em>Mike pulled into the parking lot. In front of him bright neon light said 'Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria'. Glancing down at the newspaper to triple check that he hadn't made a mistake Mike climbed out of the car and headed in. <em>

_The place smelled like pizza. It stuck to the walls, floor, and everything else inside. Pictures were tacked to the wall, drawings and newspaper clippings. Mike thought that it was nervousness that made him feel so apprehensive. It was a little late too, almost eleven. Running a hand through his black locks, he looked around for an employee or someone who could get him an application. _

_He needed this job. _

_It was something his dad had pushed him to do. Stating: "You're truly not a man until you know a girl, and have a job." Well, embarrassingly enough he knew a girl. They were in a serious relationship, but he had yet to find a job. _

_He raised an eyebrow when he spotted no one walking down the hallway and entered the dining area. The place looked like a hurricane had gone through it, with chairs scattered around like leaves and food everywhere. In here he spotted two employees working almost frantically to clean up everything. _

_"__Hello?" He said._

_Both of them jumped as if a gunshot had gone off, and they turned towards him. _

_"__Sir the place is closed," One of them stated. An elderly man with a peppered goatee. "You need to leave." Besides him a younger gal nodded. _

_Confused by their prude behavior Mike shuffled in place. "Sorry, but I was just wondering if you guys were still hiring."_

_The girl's eyes widened and the man gave him a sharp look. "For the graveyard shift?"_

_"__Yeah," Mike nodded. "I'll leave, but if the position is still open I would like an application to fill out."_

_"__Follow me," The man said gesturing to him. The girl went back to fervently cleaning as they left. _

_Mike didn't like the silence that seemed to surround them and gave a nervous chuckle. "Do you guys, always clean that fast? If so my mom would love to hire you." The man didn't even crack a smile as he turned to observe him, and Mike quickly ducked his head. _

_Reaching a strange metal door frame in one of the hallways the man reached in and pulled out an application. "Here's the application. And there's the door," The man stated pointing towards where Mike had entered. "Goodbye."_

_Bewildered, Mike walked towards the exit. _

_"__Hey kid!" _

_Mike turned to see the man shaking his head._

_"__Personally, if I were you, I'd look for another job."_

* * *

><p>You guys have a fabulous week!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: _Le Friday night..._

*S.J. Hatecraft was happily typing away on the computer, the chapter was almost done and all that was left was a little polishing before it could go onto the internet.

small dog: Ruff!

S.J.: I'll feed u in just a sec'.

*Le small dog suddenly disappears underneath the desktop that S.J. was working on.

Computer: Goodnight!

*Le screen goes dark.

S.J.: lol wut?

*Looks underneath to see dog tangled up in computer cords.

S.J.: ... Lol silly dog yur gunna die.

_So yeah, my dog tripped over some cords and shut off my computer, destroying over half of this chapter and some of the next chapter. So Mocha is now forbiden from my room and I am searching for a new footwarmer. Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

><p>Mike silently kicked himself. What was he thinking? He was crazy!<p>

Yet he pushed on. Half a moon cast a pale yellow light everywhere, helping him as he climbed down from the rooftop. Dropping to the alleyway floor, Mike checked the street before dashing to the next hiding spot. He watched as a zombie pulled a useless leg behind it and waited until it was facing the other way before moving.

His backpack was strapped securely to his person; an abandoned conduit was in his hand, a handgun on his hip, and a note in his pocket.

He and Alisha had fallen asleep in the office and had stayed there all night. When they had woken up and he had finally gathered the nerve to leave the small room, there had been no animatronics. All day he had waited for at least one of them to approach him or Alisha, but the pizzeria had been strangely quiet.

Mike couldn't decide which was more unnerving. Having a hulking animatronic stand in the same room with you, or not know where the said animatronics were. The latter seemed to be the case.

And that's where the note came into play. Alisha had found onstage. Scrawled hastily on was: _Need to get a part for Foxy. Hardware store. Be back by noon._

The kid-like writing was a little hard to read, but Mike could only assume that the animatronics had written it. At least it explained why it was so quiet in the pizzeria. There was just one small problem though.

It was night.

Noon had come and gone hours ago, almost twelve hours ago to be exact and there was no sign of them.

Turning a corner he ducked into a darkened doorway when he saw several zombies standing in the middle of the street. Looking around he spotted a bottle and chucked it towards the opposite side of the road. The zombies turned to regard the spot for a minute before making their way over.

Mike took a deep breath and ducked into another alley to collect himself.

He was crazy. The fact that he was going to find the animatronics was crazy... This whole thing was crazy!

Maybe it was because Alisha had begged him, maybe it was because he felt like he owed them, maybe it was because it was inadvertently to help Foxy. He didn't know. All he knew was that he was out here, looking for several animatronics in a zombie infested town.

Gripping the conduit tighter, Mike made his way towards where he remembered the hardware store was. The abandoned city was eerily quiet, and every step he made seemed to echo like a thunderclap. The only light he had to go by was from the moon, and with half of it missing, it wasn't much. Every building was dark.

Mike absentmindedly promised himself that he would find out how the pizzeria had electricity when none of the city had any, just after he answered every other question on his list. Seriously he was going to forget something before he could remember to ask if this kept up.

So engrossed in the unfairness of it all, Mike didn't realize he had past the only hardware store in town until he found himself standing on the docks. The smell of salt and fish was heavy in the air and Mike cursed, beginning to backtrack.

As he made his way past several warehouses though he paused. It was faint, but… had he just seen a light?

Mike squinted when another bright light, flared to life for a split second before darkening. The idea of finding other people was enough inspiration to get him moving towards the source. A dingy soot covered warehouse that looked like it had already seen an apocalypse. As he got closer he could hear voices, human voices.

"Hello? Anyone here?" He shouted.

Excited to finally see another person Mike reached one of the giant doors and started knocking.

That's when the light flashed again, accompanied by a scream of pain.

Tripping over his own feet Mike hit the gravel hard and scrambled for cover. His heart leapt to his throat as he ducked behind a stack of barrels. That scream, it sounded like someone was getting tortured in there.

Mike stiffened when he heard the door wrench open and a harsh, deep, voice shouted out, "Who's there?"

He tried to control his breathing as he listened to the sound of footsteps.

"I said who's out there!"

The statement was reinforced by a deafening sound and the sudden spray of gravel. Mike unintentionally flinched as the small rocks went flying and bit his lip to keep from screaming like a little girl. Whoever it was had a gun, and they weren't afraid to use it.

"'eh Ty there ain't no one out here. I bet it was one of them flesh eaters again," Another voice said. "We killed all of them people remember? Shitheads had it coming to them."

"We didn't get all of them," The first voice spat. The crunch of gravel grew louder and Mike pressed himself farther against the barrels. "You let two of them get away remember? And where did this come from eh?"

The conduit went flying into the dark, and Mike kicked himself.

"Aw boss, come on. It was just two of them." The second voice whined. "And what can two girls do? They probably got eaten out there. And that wasn't anything. There's shit everywhere… Boss?"

For a moment it was quite, and Mike strained to hear anything. Suddenly the barrel above him exploded. Several holes sprouted a foul smelling fluid that fell on Mike and he strove not to move. His hand inched towards the small handgun strapped to his side as he was forced to close his eyes.

"Jesus boss, what are ya' trying to do. Give me a heart attack?"

A heavy sigh came from the other side of the barrels. "I was just checking. And I told you not to call me boss."

Mike found it odd that the voice sounded so calm all of a sudden.

"Now come on. We still have two guests to take care of."

Trembling, Mike waited until the he heard the metal door close before moving. Spitting, Mike yanked off his shirt and tried to wipe his face off. Whatever was in those barrels, felt like it was burning. His face felt like it was on fire, and he refused to open his eyes. He quietly spit again and fumbled for his bag, yanking out the water bottle and pouring it on his face.

Another scream came from behind him and Mike jumped forward. Dread made his stomach drop. He knew those screams…

The man's words instantly made sense and Mike stood up, pulling out the small pistol. With a sinking feeling he realized he was going to have to get in there. He was about to save the animatronics. The irony kept bouncing around in his head as he looked for another way in. They saved him, and now he was going to save them. Maybe if he did this, he wouldn't feel like he owed them. It would be easier to answer Freddy.

Walking around the warehouse Mike found his entrance a dozen feet above the ground, a small broken window above a tow truck. Climbing the machinery Mike eased himself through the window and onto a catwalk. Another high pitched scream echoed through the building harshly, and Mike could hear a _Crunch!_

"I told you these things aren't invincible. All it takes is a little creativity."

Moving as quietly as he could, Mike tried not to look at the processing lines and machinery far below. He still felt a little giddy though. Mike switched his grip on the small handgun, trying to make it comfortable. No matter what he did, it felt ungainly, heavy in his hands.

Following the catwalk hugging the wall, Mike made his way towards the enormous machine that was so tall it almost touched the ceiling. The light was coming from the other side.

"Let's see now. It was a little disappointing that your friend was so quiet, maybe you will be a little more… vocal. If you give us some answers, we'll make sure to make it quick."

Mike heard a click, like a switch was being turned, and Bonnies voice instantly broke out. "Stop it! Don't drop me in that, I'll die! Shit, Freddy! Chika! Help!"

"Ya' friends can't help ya'" The other voice suddenly cut in. It sounded sickly cheerful.

"Alright... let's make it a game. For every correct answer you answer, I'll only lower you a little. let's say hmm… a few inches. But if you don't answer, well I just might slip, and we all know how clumsy I am. Just look at your brown friend over there. Oh wait, you can't."

"You-you bitch! Why are you doing this!"

"Whoops."

A fear filled shriek nearly burst Mike's eardrum. Inching forward, he was finally able to see what was going on.

In the spotlight of several lights were two men. One of them looked like he had never owned any muscle in his life and if he took off his wife beater Mike would have seen quite a few tattoos. The other man was the complete opposite, with a buff build and a dirty dress shirt, the African-American looked like he had been in a business meeting when everything went to hell.

He was currently standing next a control panel that was in charge of a lift. Mike's eyes followed the lift until they came to rest on Bonnie. The purple bunny was strapped to the end of it suspended over a drum of water, upside down. A few feet behind Bonnie, the slumped form of Freddy could be seen on one of the assembly lines. Mike grimaced when he saw the odd angle one of his legs sat. If the animatronics weren't joking and could feel pain, then that had to be excruciating. Beyond Freddy, Chika sat bound in several large looking chains, struggling to get to Freddy.

It took a few minutes for Mike to process what he was seeing. Incredulously he watched as the darker man rested his hand on a lever. "Like I said, I'm clumsy. And your swearing doesn't help my confidence. So let us try that again. What are you?"

"You're mom's lover!" Bonnie spat.

Shaking his head, the man pressed the lever and the lift lurched, dropping lower. Bonnie struggled to get free, and Mike had never seen pure fear in one of their eyes until now. "Where did you come from?" The man asked.

"China obviously!" Bonnie yelled.

Again, the lift dropped and Bonnie let out another shriek as his ears dropped into the water. Mike carefully began making his way towards a ladder that led to the floor.

"You're not doing very well, and such a mouth. It looks like I'm only going to be able to get a few more answers out of you. Are there anymore of you somewhere else?"

"No there's not!" Bonnie said. He was starting to sound desperate, and a keen whine escaped him when the lift dropped just a tiny bit. "Lighten up man, I can't swim I'll die!"

"Then let's answer some questions."

Reaching the ladder Mike began climbing down as quickly, and stealthily as he could. There was nothing to stop the men from seeing him if they turned around. Bonnie could see him though. The animatronics eyes snapped his way and Mike froze for a second before bring a finger to his lips.

Bonnie gave the tiniest of nods, his whole body trembling.

Reaching the floor, Mike padded over to an assembly line and ducked behind it.

"How are you still functioning? Do you have to recharge?" The man, who Mike assumed was Ty, sounded eager.

"I don't know how we work, and I'm sure that- Gah!" Bonnie jerked his head up as the lift dropped lower. "No, stop I'm answering the question! I'll answer them! I'll answer them, just don't drop me anymore."

Ty sighed and glanced at the other man who had been watching the whole thing like an overjoyed toddler before turning his attention back to the struggling animatronic. Purposefully he began to lower the lift.

"No wait, stop! I said I'd answer your questions! I can't swim! Freddy! Freddy! Help me! Chika! Someone! Mike, Mike help me! I know you're out there! Please I don't want to die, I don't want to die. Mike! M-M-_Mom, Dad! Help I can't swim!"_

Bonnie's voice changed, it began childish, plaintive. The robot struggled, his feet kicking and he brought up his head as far as it could go. The back of his head was just inches above the water… centimeters…

"Stop!" Mike shouted, pointing his small handgun at the man controlling the lift. His original plan had been to somehow snatch the shotgun that rested against the control panel and free Chika, but he couldn't take Bonnie's screaming. It reminded him to much of some pleading child, desperate, innocent.

Both men spun around and the lift came to a halt. Trying to ignore the blubbering mess that was Bonnie, Mike kept the gun pointed at them and gestured towards the shotgun. "Kick the gun over here."

The thinner man glanced towards the guy near the control panel, "Ty…"

Ignoring him, Ty exaggerated and kicked the gun towards Mike. "I assume you want all our supplies too?"

Mike shook his head. He gestured towards Bonnie. "No… I want you to let them go."

The man's, Ty's, look turned calculating in an instant. Mike could just hear the cogs in his head spinning. "Interesting…" Ty said, walking away from the control panel. "Tell me, why do you want me to let them go? Are they important to you?"

Mike kept the pistol trained on him, his arms were shaking slightly. "That's none of your business, and the answer would be no anyways."

The man came to a stop next to the water drum and looked up at the quivering Bonnie. "No? Your answer would be no… Well then." Ty walked over and jumped up next to the still form of Freddy and looked at Chika a few feet away. "We should let them go this instant." His foot came up and down swiftly and the squeal of metal on metal was heard as Freddy's leg twisted even more.

"Stop it!" Mike shouted readjusting his aim.

With a smile Ty shrugged and took a step back from Freddy. "That answers one question…"

"What are you talking about?" Mike asked. He didn't like this guy at all. He was too calm for all this, and Mike didn't like the analyzing look he kept getting. Scooting the shotgun closer to him, Mike licked his lips. "I don't know what's going on, but me and these… robots are leaving."

With a laugh Ty began walking towards him slowly. "Oh, I don't think so. These robots are far too interesting. And you are something quite different."

"Whatever," Mike said. Seriously, this guy was starting to freak him out. He aimed the pistol right at Ty's head. "Now take one more step, I dare you. I'll blow out your brains."

"With the safety on?" Ty asked.

Cursing Mike reached to turn off the safety and something heavy slammed into the back of his head. Feeling weightless, Mike was barely able to stop his head from hitting the ground. Everything was spinning and Mike was barely able to keep his eyes from closing. Dimly he heard the other guy he had forgotten cackle. "Got him boss. Clever thing wasn't it? I just stood there and he forgot all about little old me. And you did a good job in-"

"Shut up," Ty interrupted.

"I was just sayin' that you-"

"I said shut up!" Ty suddenly screamed. Mike was yanked to his feet and propped against something.

Squinting against the light, Mike scowled at Ty as the darker man crouched down in front of him. He wanted to deck this man so hard. He had the feeling that even if there weren't any zombies running around he wouldn't have liked this guy. Mike couldn't do anything though, his limbs were useless meat sacks and he felt something warm running down his neck.

"Well, at least he had enough grey matter to not shoot you," Ty mumbled, his fingers probing the back of his head and sending shards of pain shooting through Mike's skull. Ty's hands came away red, and he wiped the blood off on his slacks.

Gritting his teeth, Mike struggled to move. His chest tightened slightly when nothing happened and he struggled to keep his cool.

"We never did get an official greeting," Ty said standing up. Flashing a smile he stretched out his hand. "Hello, my name is Tyler A. Hamilton. But please, call my Ty. And your name is?" Ty waited a moment before shrugging and retracting his hand.

"Ah, shy… That's okay, I'm specialized to deal with everyone. I'll learn your name eventually." Gesturing behind him, he said, "That's Ricky. And don't worry if he doesn't look too bright. What he lacks in smarts he makes up for in rudimentary complements and extensive body art."

Mike got increasingly frightened when he finally was able to move and pain spiked through his whole body. Did he break something? He had to get out of here. Tyler, or Ty was crazy. He sounded like one of those psychotic killers you saw in movies. He made no sense, and seemed unpredictable.

Both Mike and Ty jumped when the hum of the lift sounded as it rose and Mike could barely see Ricky next to the control panel in the corner of his eye.

"What are you doing?" Ty ask.

Ricky nervously moved in place. "I was just thinkin' that, you know, I shut this robot up. He's gettin' on my nerves and I didn't want to bother ya'."

With a sigh Ty turned to Mike. "Do you see what I have to deal with? No mind at all."

When Mike really paid attention he could hear a slight accent to Ty's voice, but his muddled brain could make heads or tails of what it was.

"He's like a lot of those people out there, mindless. Obeying what instincts tell them too, no individuality. It's a shame really." Turning, Ty observed Bonnie for a moment and Mike tried to discretely move his arm. Successful, he looked around for his pistol and saw it several feet away.

"That's why I can't let you or these fascinating robots go." Ty turned back to Mike and looked at him like he expected him to get it. "It's like a puzzle, all those people are all the same puzzle, but you, you're different. The robots too. That's why I can't let you go."

"What?" Mike managed to say.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just know you'll be staying with me for a little while." Ty answered standing up. He walked towards the control panel, his voice becoming darker. "Next time Ricky just stay out of the way. Now I have to lower that all over again."

"Mike, you've got to help me. Please! Mike!" The lift started lowering again, and Bonnie screamed, writhing against his bindings. Mike forced himself to move while Ricky and Ty were looking at the panel, and threw himself at the small handgun. His hand closed awkwardly around the handle and he flicked off the safety before aiming it at the two men. "Hey!"

Both of them turned to regard him, and Mike felt sick when Tyler grinned. "Intriguing. So you _do_ care about these robots. My earlier assumptions were correct."

"I don't care what your stupid assumptions were!" Mike shouted, pushing himself to his feet. The back of his head throbbed in pain and he winced, bringing a hand to cup it. He felt dizzy and the room seemed to spin.

Deep down he was reeling at the fact that he was choosing to save the animatronics. Here he was pointing a gun at two humans, who were doing things to the animatronics he wished he could do. Torture them, get some payback, show them how he felt. Instead he was saving them.

"On the contrary, my assumptions are pointing out interesting finds. Like the fact that you may suffer from some case of anxiety disorder as you are out of breath and shaking, when you haven't yet done any physical labor." Ty slyly moved just behind Ricky who was staring at the gun in Mike's hand like it was a snake.

Gritting his teeth Mike fired a shot at the floor a few feet away from Ty and Ricky, causing them to flinch. "Let them go," He growled.

"Of course," Ty said. He slowly reached for the button to stop the lift, before swiftly slamming his fist on a different button, shattering it. The building suddenly lit up, and an alarm sounded scaring Mike and causing him to fire.

Mike watched in horror as Ricky cupped his stomach and looked at the red bloom in shock while Ty ran.

"Mike, help me!" Bonnie screamed. The lift was moving quickly downwards, dragging Bonnie with it towards the drum of water. Dropping the handgun, Mike sprinted over to the control panel and began desperately pushing buttons.

The alarm sounded again and all the assembly lines started moving, the noise becoming deafening. Mike could see Freddy and Chika moving on their line, moving towards a chute that led into the floor.

Bonnie yanked his head up when his ears made contact with the water and screamed something that Mike couldn't hear.

With a frustrated and scared shout of his own, Mike grabbed the handgun and began firing into the panel. The circuitry sparked and the whole building went dark.

Clutching the gun, Mike looked around wildly for Ty, but the man was nowhere to be seen. For a few seconds he just stood there, his mind trying to process what had just happened. He hurt all over, he was bleeding, and he had saved the animatronics. Even though he was scared of them, he had just saved them!

Mike was brought to the present by Bonnie's whimpering. Numbly he fished a flashlight out of his backpack and moved towards the drum of water. Finding a way to scale the side, he balanced on the edge and looked at Bonnie. The purple rabbit was trembling so bad that the chains holding him rattled. His chin was pressed against his chest in attempts to keep his head out of the water, but even then, the fur on the back of his head was just making contact with the water.

"Mike, please help me. Please," Bonnie pleaded.

Reaching out Mike tried to grab the lift, but his arm fell short. The movement nearly sent him into the water and it took Mike a little while to regain his balance, longer than it should have. Gingerly touching the back of his head, Mike pulled it away when he felt his soaked hair. Grimacing at his bloody hand Mike dipped it into in the water and observed bonnie for a moment.

An idea suddenly came to him and he unstrapped his backpack. Slowly standing up, Mike swung it out and managed to snag it on one of Bonnie's feet. From there it was the simple matter of pulling the lift away from the drum of water and unhooking the chains.

Mike expected Bonnie to land on his feet, but instead Bonnie barely managed to stop his head from slamming into the ground. And once he was on the ground he curled up and began to cry.

Tired and a little concerned, Mike climbed down from the drum and cautiously approached the animatronic. "Hey Bonnie, it's okay. There's no more water."

Mike yelped when the purple rabbit suddenly snatched him, bringing him against his chest and sobbing. "Thank you," Bonnie whimpered over and over again.

His heart jumpstarted and Mike felt himself tremble in the animatronics grasp. His instincts were telling him to pull away. Self-preservation was telling him he was going to die, but he couldn't. It was like he was paralyzed.

For almost a minute Mike stood there, pressed into a one-sided hug by the large hulking Bonnie. He had never felt this insignificant, small and powerless. Bonnie could crush him easily if he wanted to. He easily had two feet taller than him.

But he was never crushed. Bonnie's sobbing eventually faded into little electronic hiccups, and Mike carefully extracted himself. He was surprised when Bonnie looked at him, his eyes shining with relief and gratitude. "Thank you," Bonnie mumbled, rubbing a clear fluid that was running down his cheeks.

Nodding, Mike did his best not to show how shaken he was and suddenly remembered about Freddy and Chika. Had he stopped it before they fell into the chute? He was surprised at how worried he was about the animatronics. Particularly when Freddy had triggered an attack just yesterday.

Glancing up, Mike came to a careful stop, and slowly held his hands up.

Ricky had somehow crawled onto the assembly line next to Freddy and Chika and was pointing the shotgun directly at him. A startling amount of blood stained his front and he appeared deathly pale as he struggled to keep the gun aimed at Mike.

"Payback is a bitch," Ricky gurgled out pressing the trigger. For a heartbeat Mike saw the muzzle flash, saw the satisfied look come over Ricky's face.

The next thing Mike knew he was being tackled to the ground by a purple blur.

With an unnatural screech Bonnie bounced back to his feet and charged the Ricky. The man fumbled to bring the gun back up, but it was too late. A _crunch_ echoed loudly as Bonnie's paw connected with Ricky's chest, sending him flying backwards out of sight. "Don't you dare hurt him!" Bonnie screamed, his voice sounding unnaturally deep as he jumped over the line. Ricky's scream was cut off by another crunch.

Terrified, Mike remained where he was, staring at where Ricky had just sat a second ago. He scrambled backwards when Bonnie stood up; his paws splatter black in the flashlight's beam.

Bonnie turned to look at him, his eyes blank and feral before they changed back to normal.

Looking at his paws mortified, Bonnie's eyes grew glassy with the clear fluid and he stammered out. "I-I didn't mean to… It wasn't me." He turned to Mike, fearful.

Mike's only response was to back up more and Bonnie slouched down, crying again.

Confused and scared as hell, Mike watched the purple rabbit. Nothing tonight was making sense. Eventually he calmed down enough to fetch his backpack and to pick up the flashlight. It took a while longer though before he summoned the courage to approach Freddy and Chika.

The brown animatronic was still passed out cold, and Chika watched him with wide eyes as he undid her chains. Instantly she rushed to Bonnie and tried to comfort him, leaving Freddy to Mike. Unchaining the still form, Mike reached to wipe his hands off on his shirt, only to remember he had left it outside.

With a groan, Freddy unexpectedly shifted and tried to push himself up.

"I wouldn't do that," Mike warned him. "You're legs broken."

Confused, Freddy glanced down at his leg before giving another groan and covering his face. "Are you sure it's just my leg? I didn't know I could hurt this much." For a moment he was quiet before he gave Mike a queer glance. "What are you doing here?"

"Saving you," Mike found himself replying.

With a shrug Freddy covered his face again, and Mike realized he had been shining the flashlight in his face. Moving it, he glanced at Bonnie and Chika and was relieved when Bonnie looked like he had calmed down. He was messing with something in Chika's back and with a click, her voice returned. "-ank you Bonnie. I hate it when I can't talk."

"Where'd you get the gun?" Freddy asked, removing his paws from his face.

Looking down at the small pistol in his hand Mike shrugged. "I've had it, I just didn't get it until now because it was in my backpack."

"What about those men… Are they gone?" Freddy asked.

"Ty ran," Mike said standing up, he made sure to not look in the direction where he was sure Ricky was sprawled. "And Ricky died. I-I killed him."

Bonnie's head snapped up, and Freddy gave a solemn nod. "Thank you."

Dipping his head, Mike backed up a couple of steps and cupped the back of his head. Why did he just say that he had killed Ricky? Freddy might have been disappointed with Bonnie if he told the truth, but there was no reason to lie.

The image of Ty came up and Mike thought of the conversation he had heard outside. Ty and Ricky had killed people. What would have happened if he and Alisha had stumbled upon them? Could he have protected Alisha? And Bonnie saved his life... again. He still owed the animatronics.

"Hey Freddy," Mike said.

Freddy looked up.

Mike hesitated for a second before straightening. There was so much that didn't make sense, so many unanswered questions, but...

"… Me and Alisha are staying."

* * *

><p>AN: Review if you want.

Sorry if you found Ty was super confusing. He may... or may not of been inspired by the Joker, so the likelyhood of him not dying and showing up again... yeah.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Five Nights at Freddy's two! Where do I begin?! How about ER MER GERD! it's so intense. Yeah, and it fits right in with how I wanted this story to go, a little disturbing, but I'll take it. So yeah, this will tie both fnaf and fnaf2 now. Happy panda.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>"I'd offer you a seat, but there's only one," The man joked picking up a few pieces of paper.<em>

_"It's fine Mr. Ryland," Mike said. The room was tiny, and he was too nervous to sit anyways. He watched Ryland as he looked at his application. The man was slightly older than he thought he was going to be, with graying hair and a few creases in his face. _

_Ryland looked up, "So tell me Mike, why do you want to work here at Freddy's?"_

_Mike shrugged, but quickly straightened up. "A few reasons I suppose. One is obviously the cash, but I think working here, would give me some life experience."_

_Ryland laughed. "Good answer." Fishing a pack of gum he offered a piece to Mike before popping on in his mouth. "To be completely honest with you Mike I've already decided to hire you, but I have to go through all of this to make it 'official'." He made quoting gestures. _

_"Really?" Mike asked. That was a lot less stressful and easier than he thought it would be. _

_"Of course we still have a few things to take care of," Ryland said. He pulled several papers out of a few drawers and handed them to him. "I can have you working as early as tomorrow night. I just need you to fill out this W-4 sheet and contract."_

_Mike took them, "A contract?" He asked. _

_"It's mostly for us," Ryland explained sheepishly. "I hate to say this, but we've had a lot of kids come in like you, who quite after the first night so I made this. All it says is that you have to work a week, before you decide to quite or not._

_"Must work for at least a week… If provided with visual or video reasons as to why you would like to quite the contract becomes void… Failure to comply may result in prosecution… hmm…" Mike quietly read over the contract. He was a little hesitant, but the contract didn't seem to have any hidden messages. "Do you mind if I take these home and bring them in tomorrow?"_

_"Not at all," Ryland said cheerfully. _

* * *

><p>Mike was relieved when the pizzeria came into sight.<p>

Under normal circumstances it would have been easy to avoid the zombies and get back to safety, but he wasn't alone and normal wasn't a word Mike could use anymore. Not when you lived in a zombie infested world, with haunted animatronics.

It also didn't help when one of the said animatronics was nearly immobile and another was sulking.

Freddy had been, and was continuously apologizing every time they had to stop and Bonnie was strangely silent, keeping his distance from Mike and staying near the back of the group. It seemed like there was a tension between the animatronics too. Or maybe it was just his head. It felt like a mallet was hitting the back of his head causing him to feel slightly uncoördinated and making concentrating difficult.

Mike rubbed his arms, trying to keep them warm as they slowly sneaked by a small cluster of zombies. Again, he was without a shirt and he was getting tired of it. Behind him Chika was helping Freddy, and Bonnie was even farther back carrying the parts Foxy needed.

The zombies didn't see Mike, but they saw Bonnie and they observed him with cold, dead, eyes before turning away. The purple rabbit gave them a glance and continued his indifferent walk.

Trying his best not to gape, Mike flinched when Freddy put a paw on his shoulder. The animatronic noticed it and removed it instantly, a look of guilt crossing his features. "Sorry," He mumbled. Besides him Chika rolled her eyes, tired of his apologies. He pointed towards the horizon where it was getting brighter. "We need to get inside. Once the sun comes out, those… things will go after anything that moves. Even us."

Mike nodded and consciously took a step away from the two. He said that he was staying, not that he trusted them.

Looking at the crowed parking lot between them and the pizzeria he tried to come up with a plan on how to get past the horde, but his brain refused to work for him. It lazily pointed out that he hadn't gotten any sleep and that it hurt with a particular sharp pulse. Sighing Mike rubbed his eyes in an attempt to keep awake and looked at the lot again.

How he got out of the pizzeria Mike had no idea. In the dark, the parking lot had looked a lot emptier. Now though with the approaching sunrise he could see everything and it was far from empty.

"Why don't we use your guns?" Chika whispered to Mike, pointing towards the small pistol and shotgun.

Mike glanced down at the guns and then looked back at the crowd. Chika must have seen his incredulous stare because she huffed, "Someone can go to the side and fire one. They seem to follow sounds and it'll clear a path for the rest of us."

Freddy gave her an appraising look and Mike had to admit it could work. The zombies did go to investigate noises, but whoever fired the gun would have to find a way to move quickly to avoid becoming swarmed.

Again, Chika seemed to pick up on what he was thinking. "I'll do it," She said. The yellow chicken shifted so that Bonnie suddenly became Freddy's support and held out a wing. "Here, give me a gun."

"You sure?" Mike asked. Chika nodded and Mike hesitantly handed her the small handgun.

"Make sure to move quickly after you fire," Freddy advised. "The sun is almost out."

With a toothy grin Chika took off, disappearing around another small storefront. Mike was briefly reminded of how Chika would always look in the camera and stopped the shudder that was trying to work its way up his back. He watched the parking lot, tiredly realizing just what he had gotten himself and Alisha into. Well, it was more of a problem for him. Alisha would have no problem with his decision. It was going to be him that was going to have to work through a _lot_ of things.

A question suddenly bubbled its way to the surface and Mike gave Freddy an inquisitive look. "How did you guys get captured by Ty… and Ricky? All they had was a shotgun. That shouldn't have been enough to stop you guys."

Freddy sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, um… Ty may have, sort of tricked us… just a little." He gave a helpless look to Bonnie when Mike raised an eyebrow and the purple bunny shrugged.

"He pretended he was in trouble and then took out me and Freddy with an electric gun." Bonnie said.

"Electric gun?" Mike asked.

"Taser," Freddy quickly corrected.

Musing for a moment Mike nodded towards Freddy's bent leg. "And then he broke your leg?"

Freddy grimaced at the limb and shook his head. "He started asking questions."

Mike thought of how Ty asked Bonnie questions and could only imagine what he did with Freddy. He felt a sliver of empathy for the animatronics. Glancing at Bonnie's bloody hands though Mike was reminded of what they were capable of.

A sudden crack echoed through the parking lot, quickly followed by another and then another. The zombies became eerily still before moving towards where the sound came from. Already their movements were becoming faster, more alert. The parking lot quickly emptied except for a few stragglers.

"Let's move," Bonnie said quietly moving towards the pizzeria, carrying Freddy with him. Mike followed, and an instant later Chika emerged behind them.

"That was crazy," Chika giggled handing Mike the gun. "And I think that the pistol is out of bullets. It wouldn't fire anymore."

Taking a quick peek Mike saw that it was indeed empty and he holstered it. The gun was useless now.

Mike felt sunlight warm his back as he trailed after Bonnie and Freddy. To their side one of the straggling zombies gave a sharp turn, glaring at them. With an inhuman roar it charged towards them. Instead of going towards him though like he thought it would, it focused on Bonnie and Freddy.

Chika moved past Mike and quickly intercepted it, slamming her fist into its chest and sending it flying backwards. The zombie struggled to stand up while another came at Bonnie and Freddy from the other side. A hulking man, bigger than Mike.

"Chika," Bonnie warned her. The yellow animatronic just nodded and cut him off. Mike was surprised when the zombie grabbed the animatronics wing with unnatural strength bringing it towards his mouth. Scowling, Chika shoved it off and grabbed it by the neck. Mike heard a crack and the zombie went limp.

More and more zombies were starting to trickle back into the parking lot and Mike realized they were only halfway through the parking lot. The injured Freddy was moving as fast as he could, but it was starting to look bad.

While Chika took care of the first zombie that had come back, one finally ran at Mike. Yanking out the shotgun that had been halfway in his backpack Mike flicked off the safety and fired. The woman's face vanished in a fountain of blackened blood and the parking lot became jarringly quiet as everyone and everything turned to look at him.

Mike sometimes wished he really thought through all of his decisions.

With a like-minded scream zombies began pouring in from the sides and everything turned into pandemonium.

Mike found himself with his back against Freddy's and Bonnie's as he began unloaded whatever was left of the shotgun into the mass, while Chika let out a blood-freezing scream of her own nearly making Mike faint with fright.

The shotgun ran out of ammo after only two more shots and Mike switched his grip, holding the hot barrel and using it as a makeshift club.

Icy determination and fear gripped Mike as he knocked a charging woman clean off her feet. Not even pausing to think about what he was doing, he struck out at an older man who got too close and shoved a teenager that tried to jump on him. Another zombie came at him from the side and he turned to take it on.

A brown paw suddenly gripped his shoulder, bodily flipping him over the two animatronics as Chika flew around them attack the zombie. Landing unsteadily on his feet, Mike stumbled forwards to the door which seemed to appear out of nowhere. He scrambled to open it. With a click the door swung open and Mike turned to look back only to have Freddy forcibly shoved into him. Bonnie turned to punch a zombie that had latched itself onto Chika's shoulder.

There was no way Mike could support the heavy bear, and even with Freddy trying to brace himself against the door frame the brown animatronic came toppling on top of him when Chika shoved him from behind in her haste to get in. She tripped as well though, landing on the ground besides them.

Mike stiffened completely as he was nearly smothered in brown fur which strangely smelled smoky. "Sorry," Freddy shouted over the noise of Bonnie slamming the door in the face of several zombies. He tried to roll off of Mike, but Chika and his broken leg prevented him from doing so. "I'm so sorry!"

"J-Just don't do anything," Mike hissed, his heart sputtering. His legs were trapped underneath Freddy's good one so he couldn't even wriggle out. It felt like he couldn't breathe. "Don't move!" Freddy hastily nodded, looking worriedly at the human underneath him and holding himself up.

"A little help please?" Bonnie asked, trying to hold the boarded up door which literally looked like it was bulging.

Chika groaned and struggled to her feet to help Bonnie. As soon as she moved Freddy thrust himself off of Mike who rolled the other way. "Are you okay?" Freddy asked.

Mike didn't trust his voice so he nodded rubbing the ticklish feeling off the front of his body and gasped for air. It felt stifling.

"Are you sure?" Freddy fretted.

Gulping in air Mike nodded again. He looked at Bonnie and Chika who were fighting to keep the door closed and pushed himself upwards. He needed to find Alisha, make sure she was safe. He felt lightheaded…

"Mike!" Freddy shouted.

The ex-night guard found himself staring at the ceiling watching as Freddy's face moved in circles. He couldn't seem to pull in enough oxygen and his chest rose and fell rapidly. "Hy… Hy… Hyp… Hyper… ventil… ven… ating…" Mike barely managed to gasp out. He was acutely aware that if he wasn't able to bring his breathing under control he was going to pass out.

Freddy's eyes flashed in understanding and he glanced around frantically. "Right… uh, We need a bag. Paper bag. Bonnie do you have a paper bag?!"

"Oh sure! I keep it right next to my inhaler," Bonnie sarcastically shouted. "Of course I don't have a paper bag!"

"There's some in the kitchen," Chika offered. She shoved herself back against the door when something heavy slammed the other side.

"Go get it, I'll take your spot." Freddy ordered.

Mike tried unsuccessfully to take deeper breaths, he felt terrified and confused. What should he be afraid of? The monsters he was with or the monsters attempting to get in? He rolled over onto his stomach trying to push himself up.

"Mike stay!" Freddy said.

Looking up, Mike saw Freddy with his back to the door, his good leg straining to keep him there. Chika was nowhere to be seen. It felt like he was being smothered, no matter what he did it felt like he wasn't getting enough air. His arms began tingling and he propped himself against the wall, gasping.

Chika seemed to materialized in front of him thrusting a paper bag into his hands.

Mike wanted to argue, he wanted to say that he didn't need to do something as stupid and weak as breathing into a paper bag, but he couldn't. Woozy, he barely managed to start breathing into the bag. Something that he had seen in movies and cartoons.

Slowly the hallway stopped spinning and his breathing settled down.

Throwing the bag across the hall, Mike shakily searched through his backpack to find his medication.

Instead of feeling pathetic like he usually did, after something like this happened Mike felt… angry. The fear and confusion were still there, but he was angry too. Angry at himself.

"Mike!"

He froze when a small pair of arms wrapped around him before scooping the frightened Alisha into a hug. "Alisha."

The small redhead looked at him, unshed tears in her eyes. "I missed you. I thought you weren't coming back. What happened?"

"Not now," Mike said. Alisha appearance had broken whatever fear induced daze he had been in, but the animatronics looked like they were really struggling to keep the door closed.

"They won't give up," Bonnie growled. He pushed back, both of his ears quivering from the strain. "God, take a hint!" He shouted through the door.

Mike was shocked when Chika suddenly hit Bonnie across the head and apparently, the purple bunny was too. "What was that about-"

"Noise?" She hissed. "They're attracted to noise? If you would shut your big mouth, they might stop trying to break through the door." She gave a warning glance to the rest of them, daring them to argue.

Bonnie fell silent and quietly fought the force. They all were quiet.

It seemed as if Chika was right. Gradually it became quieter on the other side of the door and the animatronics didn't look like they were fighting to keep a mountain in place. After a prolonged silence, Freddy gave a metallic sigh of relief and went limp against the door.

"Mike you got another owie," Alisha said almost sounding angry. Reaching up, she wiped some dried blood off his shoulder and wrinkled her nose. She turned to look at the animatronics and her eyes grew wide at Freddy's leg. "You all got owies!"

Moving closer to Freddy Alisha crouched down and stared at his twisted leg. "Does it hurt?"

Freddy gave her a pain-filled smile and shook his head. "Not anymore."

"Do you need a cast?"

* * *

><p>Exhausted, Mike collapsed on the mattress, Alisha trailing behind him. The animatronics were taking care of Freddy's leg and replacing Foxy's parts. He was still mad at himself for being weak, but he was too tired to make it a huge deal.<p>

He could hardly keep his eyes open long enough to tell Alisha to stay put before he fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em>Mike peeked through the window shades at the deserted street. <em>

_It had been quiet for a few days now, there was no more sirens, no more screaming, no more anything. It was just quiet, the gray overcast helping deepen the silence._

_Pushing away from the window he strode over to the couch and sat down. He was on edge. What was he supposed to do? He had locked himself in an apartment thinking that it was some kind of serious sickness. But that was four days ago and now he was beginning to get worried. The power was out, the stash of food was dwindling, and he was going stir-crazy._

_He had been smart enough to fill all water canisters he could find in this place before utilities had been shut down, but he couldn't survive on water. _

_His dead phone sat on the small coffee table and Mike idly picked it up wishing that he could check his messages one last time. What happened to his parents? His ex-girlfriend? With a sigh he started pacing._

_This wasn't even his apartment. He had just found it abandoned and had taken it in the confusion. He had come back to his hometown because he had a week off. The apartment he owned lied in the next city over, seventy miles away. _

_"Help!"_

_Mike paused, unused to hearing anything besides the few sounds he made. A high pitch scream had him moving for the window. _

_Outside the deserted street had come alive. Two people were running down the street trying to keep ahead of the growing number of zombies. An older woman with a dirty overcoat and a small girl bundled in a jacket far too big for her._

_The movement outside was a complete opposite too what it had been only a minute before and Mike couldn't help but watch dumbly for a few seconds._

_"Someone help us!" The woman shouted. A zombie jumped at them and the woman yanked the girl upwards and out of the zombie's path. "Is there anyone out there?"_

_Snapped out of his stupor Mike stumbled away from the window and headed for the door. Reaching it, he moved the dresser and bed frame out-of-the-way and was in the process of opening the door when he paused. Should he help them? If he did, that would mean he would have to share what little food was left and give them water. _

_Another scream came from outside and Mike indecision left. He opened the door._

_"Over here! Hurry!"_

_His own voice sounded weird after not talking for so long, but he didn't have time to think about it as the woman instantly changed directions, leading the zombies towards him. He nervously waited until they ran past him before slamming the door and locking it. He then proceeded to replace the dresser and bed frame in front of the door as the sound of pounding and scratching came from the door. _

_Turning he found the woman and girl collapsed in the hallway breathless and crying. He felt a little uncomfortable and shuffled side to side. _

_"Thank you," The woman finally said. Her tear streaked face gave him a watery smile before she clutched the little girl tighter to her. "My name is Rebecca," She gasped. Wiping her cheeks she looked at the girl at her side, "And this is Alisha."_

_The only indication the little girl gave that she heard Rebecca was to bury her face deeper into Rebecca's coat. _

_Clearing his throat a little Mike replied. "I'm Mike."_

_With a nod Rebecca gave him a more sincere smile. "Thank you Mike. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't helped us."_

_Alisha finally looked up, her ashen face just as tear-stained as Rebecca's. "Mom, I'm thirsty." Mike heard her whisper._

_"I'm sorry sweetheart, I don't have anything." Rebecca replied, sounding heartbroken. _

_"I've got some," Mike surprised himself by replying. Both girls looked at him and he gestured down the hall. "Follow me."_

* * *

><p>The insistence tapping on his face finally woke Mike up and he found himself looking up at Alisha. "Mike, are you awake?"<p>

"I am now," Mike answered rubbing his eyes. They felt dry and gritty.

"I was just going to ask you if I could go get something to eat, I'm hungry," Alisha said.

Remembering that he had told her to stay Mike nodded yawning, "Yeah, I'll come with you. Just a second." Grabbing his bag he rummaged through it until he found his medication. He carefully took one and felt the bottle. It was far lighter than it should be, but there were still a few dozen pills left. "Alright let's go."

Alisha led the way through the maze of boxes and towards the kitchen. "Can you make something for dinner?" Alisha asked.

"Dinner?" Mike yawned.

"Yeah, It's dark outside," Alisha replied.

Mike raised an eyebrow at the statement. That meant he had slept all day.

Mike heard a giggle.

Stopping, he looked back down the hallway he and Alisha were in and gave her a confused look. "Did you just laugh?"

"No," Alisha shook her head.

Trying not to think too much on it Mike shook it off and continued walking. He must have just heard it. He could feel the medication kicking in.

It certainly would help him deal with the animatronics.

They entered the kitchen and Mike was startled to see Chika and Freddy spin away from the stove. The brown furred animatronic gave a wide smile at the two humans and Mike noted that his leg had been replaced. Both of them looked… cleaner. Freddy's fur didn't have any scorch marks and Chika's feathers looked brighter.

"Mike, what are you doing here?" Freddy said nervously.

"I could ask you the same thing," Mike replied slowly. He looked around at the messy counters and shook his head. "I just came here to get us something to eat."

Freddy and Chika gave each other glances before looking back at Mike and Alisha. "About that…" Freddy said.

"We're making a surprise dinner!" Chika butted in. "You know, to celebrate that you and Alisha are staying. And we also were going to-"

"Give you another surprise." Freddy quickly finished. He ignored the glare he got from Chika and turned back towards the stove. Now that Mike paid attention, he could smell something cooking.

"Oh," was all that Mike could find to say. They were making dinner for them? He strangely didn't know how to react to this. And he was starting to grow a little nervous that Chika was near the stove. Her last cooking attempt had been terrible.

"So just sit down over there," Chika said nodding towards the island that had been cleaned and set up. "We're almost done."

Alisha happily ran over to one of the stool and clambered up while Mike carefully eased himself onto one. He looked at the plate fork and cup in front of him then to the two animatronics doing… something in front of the stove.

Mike fought the urge to check on what they were doing. With a sigh he forced himself to relax. If he was going to stay here learning to trust them or at least being able to stand them was going to be important. His medication wasn't going to save him every time.

Letting them cook dinner – however odd it seemed – could help him learn to trust them somewhat.

He watched as Freddy grabbed a pot and quickly moved over to the sink, dumping its contents in, before pulling out a strainer and dumping everything back into the pot just as fast. Chika was stirring something in another pot.

"We get to stay here?" Alisha whispered to him.

Mike nodded and Alisha gave the biggest grin yet as she hugged him. "Now they're going to be some rules," He warned her, feeling unusually happy at her reaction.

"Okay," She said, not put off in the slightest.

"Done!"

They both turned to see Freddy and Chika walk over with their pots and set them down.

Alisha's eyes widened and she squealed. "Mac and Cheese!"

"And hot dogs," Mike mused looking into Chika's pot. He turned to see both animatronics looking a little anxious and eager, with Freddy doing a better job hiding it than Chika. He looked back at the pots and shrugged, dishing both of them some.

"So how is it?" Chika asked after they had taken their first bite, hopping in place.

Alisha smiled. "I like it."

Mike was surprised when they both turned to him. "What about you?" Freddy asked.

With a shrug Mike took another bite. "Pretty good," He admitted.

A satisfied look came over both of them and Chika spun to Freddy. "Now?" She asked. Freddy nodded and she vanished through the kitchen door. Mike pushed down his unease and continued eating. As long as they didn't try to bring in a suit or anything he was going to be okay.

Mike looked up through the skylight to see a starlit sky and briefly wondered what time it was.

"Where's Bunny at?" Alisha suddenly asked.

Freddy frowned at this. "He's not feeling that good, but he said that he would be feeling better soon." Alisha pouted at this, but then turned her attention back to her food.

Before Mike could ask what Freddy meant by that the door burst open and Chika came through. "Look who we fixed."

They all watched as Foxy entered the room his arm in one piece and a wide smile. His hook glittered in the light.

"Ol' Foxy's back." He stated with a smirk.

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><p>AN: Fun Fact - 25% of hyperventilation is caused by panic and anxiety disorders. :( And surprisingly I've learned that you shouldn't use a paper bag to try someone who is hyperventilating, because if it is caused by a heart attack or asthma (two other causes) it would make things worse.

That aside, have an awesome week. I'll try and to upload again next Monday. Reviews are always appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter. But, I _refuse_ to rewrite it a fourth time. -_- So please ignore any funny wording or misspelling, or tell me, it would be good criticism. Oh, btw I had something big planned to do with character developement, but after I read 'In The Flesh' (A really Fic in fnaf) I had to dash it, because it was already taken. T.T So I'll come up with something different.

This chapter is a little less... serious per say... _per say..._

Enjoy.

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><p>"They fought a' fiercely, taking out me pirate crew one by one until it was only me. With nothing but the dark sea at me back I fought fer me life."<p>

Mike watched Foxy narrate his story. Imitating his sword fights and painting a tale that captivated Alisha, Foxy grin couldn't be wider as he stood on the stage. Freddy and Chika stood not too far back watching while Mike stood even farther back, leaning against several boxes.

"With a parry and a thrust I gutted the last one and came face ta' face with the most ruthless of 'em all… Blackbeard." Foxy said, his voice darkening. "The pirate king and me clashed swords, the noise like thunder! But while me and me hearty crew were true pirates and stuck to our swords and canons, Blackbeard and his men had taken up guns. When we broke away, Blackbeard grinned somthin' that could freeze Davy Jones locker and fired one he had been hidin' right at me, taking out me right eye!" He pointed directly at his eye patch earning a gasp from Alisha.

"Bleeding from me eye and with me back to the railin' it looked like it was all over for ol' Foxy. But just as the evil pirate king was about to finish me off, his ship struck the rocks sending his sword swing wide and giving me a chance. I ducked underneath his swing and using what strength I possessed tossed him overboard." Foxy demonstrated his throw before spinning right around to face the small girl.

"Recoverin' me crew, we took his ship and sailed it away and I earned the title of Pirate King. And that is the tale of how I lost me eye." Foxy bowed low. He received several claps from the Freddy and Chika, while Alisha jumped up onto the stage.

Mike embarrassingly realized that he had tensed up during Foxy's story and relaxed.

Freddy stood up. "Almost better than the story about how you lost your hand Foxy," He commented. Mike couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but Freddy almost sounded like he was being sarcastic.

"Yeah, even Mike liked it," Chika added, looking back at the human with an innocent smile.

Mike shrugged and Alisha picked up what looked like a chair leg. "I'm a pirate!" She cried, pretending to sword fight.

"Aye," Foxy responded, a fond smile on his face. "I bet ya' are. Say, how would ya' like to join me scurvy crew? We could sail the seven seas and find hidden' booty. Treasure to buy us the finest ship that ever set sail."

Alisha squealed and nodded rapidly. Foxy smirked, "Then from now on, ya' shall be known as Alisha the Fierce. Your sword is the sharpest out of all the crew."

The small girl jumped down from the stage and ran towards Mike. "Mike, I'm a pirate! Foxy said I can join his crew!" She jumped at him, making Mike lunge forward to keep her from face planting on the floor.

"Good for you," Mike replied ruffling her still damp hair.

Mike had gathered the courage to make a dash for the employee's locker room that sat in the back. Besides being unnecessarily stuffy, the tiny room contained a shower. It was amazing what a shower – even a cold one – could do. Alisha looked so much better now that she wasn't covered in dirt, and Mike bet he did as well. He had forgotten how much he liked it.

He still wished that he had some clean clothes for both of them though. It didn't feel right getting cleaned up and then stepping right back into the same clothes you had worn for a few weeks. And he was sadly now permanently without a shirt.

Mike looked up to see the three animatronics watching them. Mike couldn't be sure, but he saw… something in their gaze. It was a bit unnerving.

"Alisha why don't you go and find Bonnie? I'm sure he would love to learn you're a pirate," Freddy said, who seemed to snap out of whatever haze they were in first.

Shaking his head, Mike began tickling Alisha. "Unfortunately it's this pirate's nap time."

"Aww," Alisha groaned. She giggled though when Mike continued his tickling.

"Don't you 'aww' me. Now that we're staying here, you're going to start taking naps. I told your mom I was going to take care of you and that's what I'm going to do." Mike laughed. Leaving the stage and animatronics behind he carried her to their mattress and set her down.

Alisha frowned, "But I'm not tired and I want to find Bunny."

"You can do that after your nap," Mike admonished.

Alisha sighed and flopped back while Mike settled down against a few of the boxes. He wasn't joking when he said she was going to take a nap. For a few minutes Alisha idly messed with the blanket and kicked off her shoes.

"Mikey?"

"What?"

"…I'm not tired."

Mike raised an eyebrow. "Well at least try. If you lie still for the next twenty minutes and down fall asleep, then you don't have to take a nap."

Alisha seemed to think she could stay awake, because she stopped messing around, but eventually as Mike suspected she would, Alisha began falling asleep. After he was sure she was asleep, Mike quietly left, heading for the kitchen.

He entered the room to see the late afternoon sun shining through the skylight, illuminating the remnants of last night's dinner. The lights were off. For a minute he just stood there. He was still trying to wrap his head around everything that was going on.

First he had escaped the onslaught of a zombie apocalypse, and now he was in a zombie apocalypse with a little girl and four animatronics that had previously tried to kill him.

Talk about fun.

Mike continued to think and absent mindedly began cleaning up the mess.

The most obvious thing he had to do right now was learn how to not fear the animatronics. Something easier said than done, yet he had to do it. His medication wasn't going to last forever, and he couldn't always rely on it. If he couldn't learn how to get over his fears, then his panic attacks would persist and probably get worse.

Remembering his short bout of hyperventilation the day before Mike frowned. It was stupid he knew, but he always felt so… pathetic after having a panic attack or hyperventilating. What kind of weak person was he? Who broke down like that? Was he so feeble that when something reminded him of his time here, he fell apart?

For a moment, Mike wished that he could be as naïve as Alisha was. She was at complete ease around them, no fear at all. He wished that he had never chosen that stupid job. He would still have his girlfriend, his dignity, his life. Never knowing what the animatronics were capable of doing to him…

Mike jerked his hands out of the empty sink when he heard a knock. Turning he saw Foxy standing in the kitchen doorway, tapping his hook. "Can we talk for a second lad?"

"Sure," Mike said slowly. He shut off the running sink and stood warily as Foxy walked into the kitchen. The red-furred pirate seemed to sense his nervousness and carefully sat down at the island.

"Don't worry, I don't bite," Foxy joked pointing towards the stool opposite of him. "I'm just wantin' to talk to ya'."

Resisting the urge to point out that, yes, he did bite; Mike eased himself onto the edge of the stool, ready to bolt. Foxy didn't seem entirely pleased with it, but let it go.

For a minute it was quiet and Foxy fiddled with his hook. The pale sunlight fell on him, lighting up his fur and showing just how worn he was. The most noticeable was a hole in his suit, showing a bit of machinery underneath.

"Look," Foxy managed to say, suddenly sounding uncomfortable. "I heard that ya' will be stayin' and about what ya' did earlier with those other land rats… and I just wanted ta' say… thank ya'."

Mike was stunned, he hadn't expected Foxy to say something like this. "You're welcome." He replied.

Foxy shook his head, "No ya' don't understand. What ya' did… after everything we've done…"

Mike watched the robotic fox as he struggled to find words, his yellow eyes staring resolutely at the table before darting up to stare at him. "I love them. ta' me they're like family, and ya' went out there and risked ya' own neck for them... No one can repay that."

"What I'm tryin' to say is that if ya' ever need a favor just holler." Foxy said.

The ex-night guard shook his head, surprising Foxy. "I can't do that."

If there was one thing that Mike prided himself in doing, it was returning favors. Foxy had saved him, and Mike had helped get the parts Foxy needed back here safe and sound. It wasn't fair that Foxy felt like he owed _him._ No matter how much he didn't trust them.

"Now lad of course ya' can," Foxy sputtered.

"No I can't," Mike emphasized. "You guys saved me and Alisha. If anything I still owe you guys." He gave a humorless laugh. "I may have helped them with Ty and Ricky, but Bonnie saved my life… again."

With a frustrated sigh he glared at the far wall.

Foxy gave him considerate look, but didn't say anything. They both sat in the stillness.

"I just don't understand it."

"What don't ya' understand lad?"

Mike tried to shut his mouth, he really did, but it was like Foxy had asked a question that opened a floodgate.

"All of this," Mike said. "How it all ended up like… this! As soon as I have nowhere left to go, you guys suddenly appeared and save my ass. After you tried to kill me I might add. It just doesn't make sense. This is the only place in the city I've seen that still has electricity and running water, you're stocked up on food, you've got boxes of stuff people need in our situation. Out of all the places I could end up stuck, it's here! The one place I said I would never come back too! I just… I just don't understand it!"

The kitchen was quiet and Mike took a deep breath to collect his thoughts. He scolded himself. What was he doing telling this to Foxy? The animatronic couldn't possibly know what he was going through.

"Now lad," Foxy began.

"Stop calling me that!" Mike snapped.

Taken back, Foxy gave him a guarded look. "… Mikey, none of us have the answer for what yer askin'. Do ya' think we have all the answers stowed away. Hidden where ya' can't find it? Well, we don't, and the answer we can give ya' would kill us. Ya' saw what happened to us when Freddy tried to fess."

Mike shook his head, "There's got to be a way you can tell me without that happening."

Foxy sighed and looked at his hook dejectedly. "I wish that were true, Mikey."

The room darkened as the sun disappeared behind some clouds and Mike ran a hand through his black hair. Both of them were content, or at least, okay sitting there brooding.

Mike followed Foxy's his good hand as it absent mindedly ran along the eye patch. His gaze then traveled back down to the tear on the pirate's chest. He could see the oily substance matted in the reddish fur and noticed other stains as well.

"Do you guys feel pain?" Mike found himself asking.

"What?" Foxy asked startled back to reality.

Mike nodded towards his torn suit. "Do you guys feel pain? I'm just curious. Freddy acted like he was in pain when he had that bent leg and Bonnie looked hurt when Chika slapped him. So…" Mike shrugged.

"I'm guessin' so," Foxy replied nonchalantly. His eye widened. He turned to Mike excitedly, making him jump. "Oy! We can feel pain! Do ya' know what that means?" Foxy didn't wait for an answer before he ran out of the room.

Stunned, it took Mike a second to realize that Foxy was gone and he stood up. He hesitantly followed the sound of footfall back towards the stage.

"Chika, Freddy, Bonnie!" Foxy shouted, leaping up onto the stage. Mike came to a halt near the boxes.

"What?" Freddy asked coming from behind the stage. "Did someone get hurt?" He was quickly followed by Chika and Bonnie.

"Somethin' even better," Foxy said, smirking. "We can get hurt!"

All the animatronics stared at him blankly.

"Foxy, I don't think that's a good thing," Freddy said slowly.

"No, no, I'm not sayin' it's good we can be getting' hurt. I'm sayin' we _can_ get hurt!" Foxy cried, pointing to himself.

"He's lost it," Bonnie brusquely said. He began walking towards the boxes but stopped when he noticed Mike. His face turned gloomy and he turned around heading the opposite way. His escape was cut off by Chika though who latched onto his arm.

Foxy growled in exasperation. "Don't tell me that ya' haven't noticed it? Being' hurt? Freddy did it hurt when ya' snapped yer leg?"

"Of course it did," Freddy huffed. Foxy continued to stare at him, waiting for it to sink in.

As if a switch went off, Freddy's eyes widened just like Foxy's had and he smiled. "Of course it did… It hurt!" Laughing he spun around to face the other two animatronics who were now looking at him with concern. "It hurt! Guys, we can feel pain."

"So?" Bonnie huffed. He glared at Chika when she stopped him from leaving again.

Freddy gave him a pointed look, "Since when have we been able to feel pain? Guys… we can feel pain."

Chika's eyes lit up and she immediately enveloped Bonnie in a hug, ignoring his lack of response. "Oh, my gosh! We can!"

Cackling, Foxy jumped off the stage and tackled Freddy sending him into the other two animatronics. All of them began laughing, even Bonnie started chuckling, as they got dogpiled and Mike chose to quietly leave.

Bewildered, Mike checked on Alisha, making sure that the noise the animatronics created hadn't awakened her before wandering to the office. He shut the doors and sunk into the leather seat, processing what he had just seen.

What had he seen? All he had asked was a simply question.

Their reaction though had been so…. Innocent.

A word he would have never used to describe them was the perfect one to portray that scene.

With a sigh, Mike rubbed his temples feeling puzzled. Why would they be so happy that they could feel pain? Had they just not realized it before? He looked at the cupcake. "I don't suppose you have the answers to all my questions?"

"Of course you don't," Mike muttered. "I'm talking to an inanimate object."

Idly humming a tune Mike drummed his fingers on the armrest, trying to think of something to do. He could go back to the kitchen, but he didn't want to do that, and he didn't _want_ to go back to the stage area. It felt like he had witnessed a private moment between the four animatronics that he shouldn't have seen.

His gaze came to a rest on a stray box that sat outside the office next to the wall and he raised an eyebrow. He _could_ try and make a list of everything in the boxes. Who knows what he could find.

Finding some scrap paper and a pen Mike made his way to the small room passing several boarded up doors.

The open box of propane was still where he had left it and he set it on the other side of the hallway. Using the pen he opened up another box and found the same thing. Propane.

Soon he settled into a rhythm, enjoying the busybody work. He'd open a box, note its content, and then neatly stack it on the other side of the hallway. It was simple, but it gave him something to do.

After twelve boxes or so, the contents changed. Instead of propane Mike found boxes filled with small vials full of a clear liquid. Then it changed to small metal stands, and then to pads of legal paper. In the end he ended up with the twelve boxes of propane, seventeen boxes of the small vials, three of the metal stands and six pads of legal paper.

With them stacked against the wall, the hallway looked more open and the small room was easy to notice. Mike stared at the boxes for a few minutes before shaking his head. Why did he even try to understand when nothing here made sense?

Mike stepped into the small room. Besides the shelf of alcohol, several folding chairs and a table were tucked into a corner. He didn't really want to stack boxes anymore, and he was still bored. He glanced at the paper in his hands then to the shelf. Walking over he quickly stuffed the pages behind it and left.

Frowning, Mike wondered where the strange impulse to hide the paper had come from, but shook it off, when a small voice said…

"Hello."

Mike spun around, half expecting something to be standing there waiting for him, but there was nothing.

The hair on the back of his neck rose when an eerily stillness fell upon the hallway and the very faint sound of a music box could be heard.

"Is someone there?" Mike said.

The noise disappeared and Mike felt a cold chill crawl up his back as he turned to leave. For a brief moment it felt like he couldn't move, like something invisible was trying to hold him in place. After a second though it vanished just how the noise had and he stumbled forward.

Not pausing to look behind him, Mike all but ran past the office and towards the dining area. Coming around the corner he collided with a yellow wall.

"Oomph," Mike grunted, falling backwards.

Above him Chika exclaimed, "I'm so sorry Mike, I didn't see you there! Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"I-I'm fine," Mike pushed out, rising to his feet and nervously looking behind him down the hall.

Chika followed his gaze and Mike took a small step away from the large robotic bird. After not seeing anything Chika turned her gaze back to him. "Hey Mike, I have a question…"

Nodding, Mike took one last glance at the blank hallway to ensure he wasn't going crazy.

"Um… well," Chika began messing with her bib. "I was just wondering if you could teach me cook?"

"What?" Mike asked.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Chika quickly rushed. "It's just that all I've ever really tried to make was pizza, but the cooks would throw out any I left for them. And now that you came here, I've been able to make different things and you seem to like them. Plus, don't tell anyone but, I'm not a good cook."

Chika's features were serious, as if she were disclosing some big secret and Mike slowly nodded.

If he went along with this, it could be a great way to learn to trust them. And Chika seemed easy enough to be around, even if she caused mini heart attacks every now and then. He was just going to have to be careful.

"Alright," Mike nodded. "I guess it couldn't hurt to teach you a few things-"

Mike gasped when Chika enveloped him in a hug. "Really? Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Breaking out of her hold Mike moved out of her reach, trembling slightly. He quickly got a hold of himself though and took a deep breath. A dull throb echoed through his chest and he rubbed it.

"I-If I'm going to teach you to cook you can't do that though," Mike said. "No touching."

Chika nodded and Mike straightened up. "Can we start now?" Chika asked excitedly.

Mike shrugged. "I have to wake up Alisha and make something to eat, so you could probably help." The yellow animatronic took off eagerly for the kitchen and Mike walked through the boxes to the mattress only to find Alisha gone.

"Alisha?" Mike called. He instantly headed towards the stage. There he found Freddy awkwardly holding a dozing Alisha. In any other situation Mike would have been upset, or worried about Alisha, but the way Freddy was frozen in a half crouch with Alisha asleep against him was extremely funny to Mike.

Freddy gave him an apologetic glance. "She just walked up to me," The bear whispered. "I didn't try and take her or anything like that-"

Mike waved him off. "It's fine, she sleepwalks sometimes." Stepping closer he observed the two with a small smile.

As the silence stretched on, Freddy tried to move, but was unable to.

"Can you please take her?" Freddy asked. He looked unhappy with the position he was in, but he didn't dare move for fear of waking Alisha up.

"I don't know," Mike drawled. "She looks so comfortable. And she's basically sleeping on a giant pillow."

Mike snickered at the pleading look Freddy gave him and decided to not tease the animatronic anymore. He grabbed Alisha, letting Freddy stand up. "Come on big girl, it's time to wake up." Groaning, Alisha went limp on his shoulder and Mike shook his head.

"Or stay asleep," He mumbled carrying her towards the kitchen.

Chika had turned on the light in the kitchen and was holding a frayed cookbook when Mike walked in. "Here, you can pick whatever you want," Chika said, quickly setting it down on the island.

Mike sat Alisha up on the stool and lightly tapped her cheeks, "Hey Ali, you need to wake up now."

Alisha cracked open her eyes and frowned at Mike. "I don't wanna…"

The unexpected chuckle came from the doorway and Mike looked up to see both Foxy and Freddy standing there, Foxy holding something behind his back.

"Lass, ya' won't be wantin' to be sleepin' tonight if ya' keep that up," Foxy said to Alisha. "And I brought ya' a surprise."

The small girl instantly seemed more awake and she rubbed her eyes. Foxy chuckled again and set a box of crayons and a small coloring book in front of her. Freddy moved to lean against the pile of boxes.

Mike felt his face tightened slightly with Foxy looming over Alisha, and he contemplated whether or not he should do something.

"Hey Foxy, can I speak with you for a second?" Freddy suddenly called out.

"Sure thin'," Foxy said moving away from Alisha. Mike relaxed and he let out a breath he had been holding. He glanced around at the three animatronics in the room and steeled himself. He could do this. If he could converse with them one-on-one then he could deal with this.

Mentally telling himself to check on Alisha every few minutes Mike pulled the cookbook Chika had left on the table to him. He flipped through it, looking for something easy enough to make with someone like Chika around. In all honesty he was going to make something like spaghetti, but it couldn't hurt to look.

Not finding anything that he thought Chika could do, Mike shut it and set it aside. "Okay… Chika we're just going to do some spaghetti toda-tonight," Mike said glancing at the dark skylight. "Can you go see if we have any spaghetti sauce in the cooler?"

The yellow chicken nodded and disappeared through the door while Mike walked to a shelved wall, scanning for noodles. It took a little while, but he did find some and he brought it out.

"Ya' cookin' with a disaster," Foxy warned him with a smirk. He nodded towards the cooler door from where he was standing next to Freddy.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Mike sighed.

Foxy shook his head, "She has a hole in her foot from handlin' that gun ya' gave her."

Chika came out of the cooler and shook off a few pieces of ice. Mike ever so slyly glanced at her feet to indeed see there was a small hole in one of them. "Here," She said handing him a can.

Mike took the can and gave it a once over. "Chika these are peas…"

"Oh, must have grabbed the wrong one" Chika said. She disappeared back into the cooler.

Foxy laughed quietly to the side. "Told ya'," he said.

Ignoring the pirate, Mike set the can down and filled a pot that he had cleaned with water before setting it on the stove. Chika came back out with another can.

"Um… Chika this is a can of tuna," Mike said.

"It is?" Chika asked looking confused.

Mike gave dubious look. "Yeah, it says it right here…" He watched as Chika took the can and stared at the print carefully. A crazy thought entered his mind and he cleared his throat. "Chika, you can read right?"

The yellow animatronic suddenly seemed nervous and began shuffling from foot to foot, her eyes darting about. "I can read! Well, a little… maybe a tiny bit… Like a word or two…" She trailed off and Mike felt like he had been slapped in the face.

"Wait, so if you can't read, who who wrote that note?" Mike asked thinking about the note left on the stage. If Chika couldn't read, that meant she definitely couldn't write.

"Freddy did," Chika was quick to reply.

The said animatronic self-consciously rubbed an arm and tried to appear as if he weren't interested in their conversation. "Didn't he or one of the others teach you how?" Mike asked, looking at Foxy and Freddy.

"Freddy tried, but he doesn't know how to do it really well and Foxy and Bonnie don't know how to read."

Mike stared at the animatronics, for a brief instant feeling shocked instead of scared by them. "So you don't know how to read?" Mike asked Foxy.

"Just to be lettin' ya' know. A pirate don't need to know all that mumbo jumbo," Foxy said, but even he seemed embarrassed by the fact. "And don't think fer a second that Freddy here is any good. I found three of 'em messed up notes in the back."

Freddy glowered at the fox animatronic.

It made sense though. The note had looked like it had been written by a first grader.

"It's okay," Alisha spoke up from where she was sitting at the table. She didn't even look up as she continued to draw in the coloring book. "I don't know how to read either Mr. Fox. But Mike's going to teach me aren't you Mike?"

While Foxy sputtered at the name Alisha had given him, Mike realized that Alisha was only five. Which meant she didn't know how to read, which meant that he was going to have to teach her how to read and write along with everything else…

"I'm sure he could teach you to," Alisha added.

"Could you?!" Chika said, looking at Mike.

Feeling the start of a headache, Mike rubbed his temples and took a deep breath.

"Sure."

In reality how bad could it be?

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><p>AN: Follow, Fav, Review, do whatever you want just don't flame. I'm happy to say it hasn't happened yet, and I'm going to see if I can keep it that way.


	10. Chapter 10

I'm sorry for the semi-late upload. The Thanksgiving weekend was hectic for me. T.T And there's also the fact that I've started developing a small case of writer's block.

Oh, and congrats to the fnaf community here. Over 1000 stories... wow, just wow.

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><p><em>"Kid, you okay?"<em>

_Mike gripped the tablet tighter. His fingers were bone white, and he knew his face had to be even whiter. He refused to take his eyes off his watch which said it was half past six though. He was too scared to even look up. _

_"Hey, you need to get home." Two hands help break him out of his trance and Mike felt his heart start hammering in his chest. He was sick with relief. An elderly woman firmly led him from the office towards the exit, that glorious, perfect exit. Mike wanted to say thank you, but he could hardly keep his feet underneath him._

_The elderly woman stopped him and gave him a hard look. "Are you going to pass out?"_

_Mike slowly shook his head. _

_Her stare hardened even farther. "Then I need you to snap out of it. Okay? Did you drive here, or do you have a ride."_

_Mike voice sounded oddly flat to him. "I drove here."_

_He stumbled forward when the woman pulled him through the door and had him sit down on a bench outside. The sun did little to warm his numb hands, but it felt good on his face. The woman disappeared and Mike stared at his hands. They were trembling every so often and he couldn't stop them. _

_The lady appeared again a glass in her hands "Drink this."_

_Mike did. Instantly the slightly sharp taste of alcohol invaded his senses and he coughed, but he managed to drain it. Whatever it was caused his throat to burn and his stomach to bloom with unexpected – but not unwanted – warmth. _

_The sound of traffic finally made sense to him and he handed the glass to the lady stumbling towards his car. _

_"Congratulations…" He heard the lady mumble. _

_He didn't listen to her as his stumbled turned into a fast walk. Whatever she had given him was helping tremendously with the cold that seemed to try and leech the life out of him, but he felt sick. _

_His head spun with flashbacks of the night as he drove home. The phone call… the eyes… the fear… the animatronics… those eyes…_

_Mike screeched into the parking lot. He barely noticed that his parent's cars were gone as he threw himself out of the car not even caring to close the door. His stomach churned, and he was slick with sweat as he burst into the bathroom._

_ The next thing he knew he was laying on the ground next to the toilet with his throat burning and his body trembling. _

_It was stupid, it wasn't manly, but he couldn't stop the tears as they fell. _

_After a few minutes of self-pity, Mike forced himself to move. He still felt sick, unsteady on his feet, but he couldn't leave the front door wide open. The neighbors must think he's already crazy._

_Leaning against the door after he closed it, Mike rubbed his face furiously, trying to keep himself alert instead of falling back into that shock the lady had managed to pull him out of. His stomach twisted and he took a deep breath. _

_His phone suddenly rang in his pocket and Mike jumped at the noise. Fishing it out, he answered it. "Hullo?"_

_"Hello Mike, how'd your first night go?" The chipper voice of Mr. Ryland came through the phone. _

_Mike's knees gave out on him and he slid down the door. His back felt icy. "H-Hey Mr. Ryland. I-I don't think I can work t-there anymore."_

_A sigh came from the other side of the phone. "Look Schmidt, you seem like a sturdy young man. I would have thought you could handle something like this. Sure it's hard, but it's not impossible. Are you saying you can't handle it?"_

_Mike shook his head fighting the tears that threatened to spill from his eyes. Ryland didn't know what he had just gone through… "I'm not saying I can't handle it. I-I-I don't want to handle it. Did you know what those animatronics do at night?!"_

_"Of course."_

_Mike was at a loss of words. "Y-You knew and… you just let me waltz in there with no idea about what was happening?!"_

_"Now Mike-"_

_"I quit," Mike spat his fear quickly turning into anger. He refused to spend another moment in that damned place!_

_"Then I assume you have video evidence as to why?" Ryland's said. _

_"I don't need any fucking evidence!"_

_"Afraid you can't do that. I have you on a contract. Unless you have fifteen thousand just lying around?"_

_Mike's anger dissolved back into dread as he realized just what he had done. He had read the contract, now all the strange things that hadn't made sense on it were crystal clear. It was all set up that way… _

_"Or perhaps you have some evidence? It would have to be video of course, audio can be so… misleading."_

_"Don't you have feed from the security cameras?" Mike asked. _

_"Unfortunately it all becomes manual when we switch to the night power. There's no recording on what happens at night there. We place a lot of trust into our night guards, which is one of the reasons for the fifteen thousand dollars."_

_"I expect you here before twelve tonight, or you can expect to see me at your house for the payment tomorrow morning." Ryland curtly said after a moment of silence before the line went dead. An icy feeling settled on his back…_

* * *

><p>With a gasp Mike jerked to the side, falling off the mattress.<p>

He had fallen asleep on top of the covers and his back was nearly numb. Shivering, Mike crawled underneath his half of the covers and tried to fall back asleep. The silence though coupled with the nightmare was just too much and he rolled over to face the ceiling.

Besides him Alisha was a huddled form buried underneath the covers, and he listened to her steady breathing, hoping it would lull him to sleep.

Instead, he found himself wondering about his parents. Were they okay? The government had initiated a countrywide lockdown, and his parents were generally law-abiding people. Were they still at their house? Or had they left as soon as they could?

He tried to not think about them… dead. In all honesty they probably were dead. His mom was pushing sixty while his dad was sixty-four. His mom went grocery shopping every week. They had to have run out of food and water right?

What about his friends? Sure he didn't have very many, but he was close with a few of them. Were they alive?

Mike sat up and rubbed his face, ridding himself of the thoughts. With no idea what time it was he headed towards the office. One would think that there would be multiple clocks in a place like this, but that wasn't the case. There was only one and it was located in the office. The stupid tablet.

Mike shuddered as he quickly made his way through the boxes and down the dark hallway. At night everything here looked so… sinister. The dirty walls looked blood splattered and the posters grew freaky. It reminded him of his week working here.

He entered the office and quickly shut the doors. An uneasy feeling overcame him as he noticed just how quiet it was. Examining the office he realized just how messy it was. He had never cleaned it after his little 'breakdown' and the fan, along with several other things that normally sat on the desk were scattered on the floor.

Not liking the silence, Mike made short work of picking up everything and turning the fan back on. The little thing stuttered for a minute, but eventually it kicked on. He found the tablet with a cracked screen sitting underneath the desk and he flicked it on to find himself looking through a security camera.

Startled, he glanced down to the corner of the screen to see the battery icon and a power percentage steadily dropping. He looked into the other corner expecting to see a time, but instead he saw a pixelated white face.

Mike took a deep breath and shook his head. There was something innately wrong with that.

He began going through the different cameras. He saw a dark closet, a box filled dining room, a dimly lit hallway, bathrooms… His fingers hovered over the icon of the spare-parts room, but he skipped over it instead going to look backstage. It was a little unnerving to see no animatronics in the feed and he instantly checked either side of the office.

When he didn't see anything, Mike shakily reprimanded himself. Freddy and them weren't after him. He was just psyching himself out. But then again, where were they?

Rubbing his arms, Mike spun the cupcake so it was facing the wall and checked to see that he still had over fifty percent of his power. He had to stop himself from checking the hallways again.

When he looked down to his hands were trembling slightly he growled and balled them into fists.

He was _not_ going to freak out! He just needed to get ahold of himself. There were no animatronics after him. He wasn't going to die… His heart continued to try and beat out of his chest as if it were trying to warn him of some impending doom, and his resolve slowly faded. No matter what he said to himself, it still felt like he was going to die… like he was going to get stuffed into a suit…

Mike jerked back violently when a golden form of Freddy suddenly appeared on the desk, a bloody macabre grin on its slouched face. He threw the chair in its direction and backed up into the corner. Dread coiled in his stomach when instead of disappearing like it usually did, the golden suit stayed and caught the chair with one hand.

Its head slowly turned in his direction and black eyes staring straight at him.

"No…" Mike heard himself saying as it fell face first onto the floor with a loud clank. "No… stay away!"

A wheezing came from the gold Freddy as a pawed hand reached forward to drag it towards Mike. The whole body spasmed as it moved forward. Another hand came up, dragging it closer.

"Stay away!" Mike shouted.

It paused, regarding him, and Mike squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear it drag itself again. Closer… and closer… and closer…

Then silence.

Mike trembled in the corner, refusing to open his eyes. He knew it was right there, probably a few inches from him. He could hear a quiet, labored breathing.

Seconds stretched into minutes and Mike still didn't open his eyes. The smell of something rotten hit him making him gag, and something wet touched him. He froze when a childlike giggle came from right in front of him, feeling the wet point trace leisurely up his arm. The wet feeling traveled to his chest and began moving back and forth.

He felt numb wherever it touched and he started shaking from the fear and coldness. It felt like his mouth was glued together, and he was unable scream like he wanted to. He sat there, feeling the wet point remain there a moment longer before it vanished.

A sharp pain suddenly came from where it had started on his arm making Mike hiss and open his eyes. An empty office greeted him and he went to rub where the pain was. The cause of the pain was a cut. When Mike pulled his hand away to see it was wet with blood and something black.

Mike looked down and saw felt his blood freeze when he saw his arm and chest covered in a black mark. The line following whatever had touched him, to create something on his chest. He grabbed the tablet and looked at himself in the reflection.

"Mine."

It was sprawled in black on his chest.

Horrified Mike stumbled upright to leave and turned to be face to face with Golden Freddy.

The golden bear screamed.

* * *

><p>Mike jerked upright.<p>

Looking around dazed, Mike frantically checked his chest to see it blank. The blankets were bunched at the foot of the mattress and Alisha was nowhere to be seen. Through the boxes he could hear Foxy talking animatedly from the stage, probably telling Alisha another story.

It had been just a dream.

Sighing in relief Mike ran a hand through his black hair and winced when his arm stung. He looked to see a strange cut there.

Mike stood and moved to the bathrooms that were just on the other side of a few boxes. He washed the blood off of his arm and splashed some water on his face. Glancing up he saw his reflection stared back at him from the mirror. Hazel eyes greeted his own and he shook his head.

Turning he headed towards the stage to find Alisha.

He found her sitting at the foot of the stage watching Foxy as the animatronic told another story. Yawning, Mike sat against the boxes and observed them both. As he sat there, his nightmare came back to him and shuddered. He supposed he should eventually ask the animatronics about the 'Golden Freddy'. It was either another piece of an unsolvable puzzle or he was going crazy.

He snorted. Crazy. Why did he even use that word?

He yawned again as he watched the pirate fox fight a one man sword fight, going back and forth quickly. His dream was already fading from his mind. He was still confused on where the cut had come from, but it was probably from all the rolling around he did last night. There must be something sharp besides the mattress. He would just need to find it later.

Laughing, the fox did a finishing blow and turned to Alisha with his yellow eyes flashing. Those eyes flickered up to look at him for a minute and Mike felt cold.

Sitting up straighter, Mike watched Foxy go back to his story. He would have thought that by now he would be at least partially used to the animatronics, but he wasn't. The only reason he had done so well so far was because of his medication.

Forcing himself to relax, Mike sat back and idly began drumming his fingers against his knees. He needed to get over it, his fear of the animatronics, fast. His medication wasn't going to last forever and when he ran out he would have to deal with his fear and withdrawal.

Mike frowned at the thought. That wasn't going to be fun.

While his medication did wonders to calm him down and keep him calm, it was an addictive drug. His therapist – she had told him to call her a psychiatrist but he knew she was a therapist – had warned him about the possibility of getting addicted. But by that time the panic attacks were so frequent that he had decided to risk it.

"Good morning Mike,"

Pulled from his musing, Mike looked up to see Chika standing there somewhat shyly. The appearance of the bird startled him and he had to remind himself to remain calm. "Morning Chika."

The yellow animatronic shuffled from foot to foot, her eyes staring resolutely at a box. "So… I was wondering when you were going to start teaching Alisha… because I got the kitchen set up for it for whenever you want to."

Mike remembered what he had said the day before and he sighed, gingerly touching the cut on his arm. If he was going to teach her, it would need to be before lunch and her nap.

"I'll probably do it soon," Mike said working his way to his feet.

While Chika vanished, Mike walked to Alisha and sat down next to her. Foxy had run to his cove. "Did you get breakfast?" He asked her.

She nodded, "Chika made funny pancakes." She said.

Mike raised an eyebrow at that. "Funny pancakes?"

"Yeah, she dropped something into it. But the syrup made it better."

Mike's stomach growled and he patted her on the shoulder. "I might have to grab one of those. I'll be right back."

Alisha giggled at that and Foxy emerged from Pirates cove with a foam sword prop. "I knew it be somewhere in there," He said proudly showing it off. He gave Mike a smile. "Mornin' Mike,"

"Morning," Mike said as he stood up. He looked between Foxy and Alisha for a moment, unsure if he should leave Alisha alone with the pirate.

_Alisha was already alone with him when you woke up,_ he told himself. Taking a deep breath, Mike turned and walked quickly towards the kitchen. _Trust…_

When he walked into the kitchen, he looked around in disbelief. It looked like the place had gotten trashed by a hurricane. The table was covered in paper and rest of the room was splattered in batter and other food items. Dishes were stacked on the counter and a plate of pancakes sat to the side.

Hesitantly, Mike picked one up. He was suspicious of the bulges and yellow streaks, and he carefully nibbled an edge. "Pineapple?" He made a face when he tasted a bit of the yellow and promptly spit it into the sink. "Nope, mustard."

He discretely threw the pile away and began cleaning. The sun shone through the skylight and he couldn't tell if it was early in the morning, or late evening. After he cleaned the dishes and wiped off most of the batter – he refused to clean the walls above his head – Mike grabbed an apple from the cooler.

Sitting down at the table Mike beheld the mass of paper, pens, and crayons scattered on its surface. Is this what Chika meant when she said she got the kitchen set up?

He got his answer when Chika entered the kitchen with another armful of paper. "So what do you think?" She asked setting the paper down. "Do you think I got enough? I could go get more if you need me too."

Mike was a little taken back by her eagerness, but he quickly shook his head. "No… this is plenty."

"Great!" She said. "I'll go get Alisha then."

Before Mike could say anything, Chika was gone.

He stared at the door where she had vanished and shook his head. It looked like he was going to start teaching Alisha, whether he was ready or not.

The sound of footfall came from the doorway and an instant later Alisha and Chika entered. Both looked excited and Alisha jumped onto the stool next to him while Chika sat to the side.

"Chika said you're ready to teach us to read," Alisha said happily. She looked at the paper and writing utensils in front of her and her grin widened.

"Yeah I am," Mike said eying the yellow animatronic who looked back innocently at him. He sighed and set the uneaten apple to the side. "I just want you to know I'm probably not going to be a very good teacher. I don't really know how to do this."

"I think you're a great teacher," Alisha said. She pulled a piece of paper and a green crayon to her. "So how do we read?"

"Hold on, we're starting out easy," Mike said. "Do you know you're ABC's?"

"Yes," Alisha nodded.

"And… do you?" Mike asked Chika.

"Do you mean that song?" Chika asked. "The one that goes: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O-"

"Yes, that one," Mike interrupted. "Do you guys know how to write your ABC's?" Both of them shook their heads and Mike grabbed some paper of his own. Spotting a sharpie, he wrote two large A's, one uppercase and one lowercase. "Then we'll start with the first letter. This is the letter A-"

Mike paused as the door opened and Foxy and Freddy filed in. Foxy looked a little miffed about something while Freddy sheepishly waved his paw, "Sorry, we didn't mean to stop you. Keep going."

"T-This is the letter A," Mike uncertainly continued. He watched them as they took up the stools on the other side of the table and shifted slightly so that everyone could see. The fact that he was teaching the _animatronics_ was absurd. "Um… This is an uppercase or a big A, and this is a lowercase or a little A. I want you to write them both ten times on your paper."

Chika and Alisha promptly began copying his letter, while Foxy folded his arms and glared at the far wall. Freddy nudged him, holding a piece of paper. "Come on, you said you would."

"Fine!" Foxy scowled and snatched the paper out of Freddy's hand before grabbing a crayon. "But, ya' owe me." The small thing snapped in his hand and he growled reaching for another. With a smile Freddy grabbed some paper for himself.

Slightly confused about what he had just witnessed, Mike tried not to think about it and began writing the next letter. He looked up though when Freddy stood up and made his way around the table towards him.

"Here," Freddy said setting down a filled out paper. "Are we doing this for the whole alphabet?"

Mike remembered that it was Freddy that had written the note and he glanced up at the bear. "We were, but I don't think you need to."

"It's fine," Freddy said. "It's a lot more fun than I remembered and it'll be good practice. I haven't written in forever." He turned to leave, but his eyes suddenly locked on him and he froze.

"What?" Mike asked, after an uncomfortable moment of Freddy staring at him.

"W-Where did you get that cut?" Freddy asked.

The nightmare flashed through his mind and Mike shivered. He glanced down at his arm. "I don't know."

Freddy's eyes suddenly turned darker and he grabbed Mike by the arm pulling him out of the kitchen. Fear instantaneously bubbled through his chest and Mike struggled to free his arm. Chika, Foxy, and Alisha all looked confused as he was dragged through the doorway.

Mike for his part suddenly felt terrified. "Hey, let go!" Freddy's darker eyes reminded him of the Golden animatronic.

Once they were in the hallway Freddy let go of him and Mike backed up several steps.

"I'm only going to ask you this once. Where. Did. You. Get. That. Cut." Each word that came from Freddy sounded warped. His synthetic voice was darker and more menacing.

Mike backed up into a pile of boxes and flinched when Freddy took a step towards him. "I don't know! I just woke up this morning and I had it, I swear!" His heart leapt into his throat when Freddy closed the distance between them and grabbed the cut arm again, inspecting it. The towering animatronic scowled.

Seeming to find whatever he was looking for, Freddy let go and began walking briskly back towards the kitchen.

"Foxy, Chika! Come on!" Freddy commanded with his voice still seemed darker. He turned to regard Mike. "You and Alisha stay in the kitchen. We have to take care of something." The two animatronics seemed to pick up on something as they both hurriedly followed Freddy as he headed towards the other hallway.

Mike ran into the kitchen and Alisha gave him a worried look. "What wrong?"

"I don't know," Mike answered. His mouth felt a little dry and his heart was still pounding. He hadn't yet taken the medication today and he was feeling it.

Mike looked at his cut. The thin line went halfway around his arm. It was strange, but the way Freddy had reacted made him a more than a little concerned. What was so wrong with it? WHy had he acted the way he had? Mike was starting to doubt his theory about just rolling on something sharp in his sleep.

His thoughts were cut short when he heard the heart-stopping scream that the animatronics gave.

"Mike! Alisha?" A heavy thudding sounded from right outside the kitchen and Bonnie burst in. His eyes frantically landed onto Mike and Alisha and he settled down somewhat.

"Is he in there?" Freddy shouted bursting into the room as well. He seemed to calm down slightly as well.

Mike fear and concern only grew when he heard Chika screech from somewhere in the pizzeria. An instant later the sound of something heavy falling echoed through the halls. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Keep them safe," Freddy said to Bonnie before he ran back out into the hallway.

Mike heard another crash followed by Chika shrieking. "I'm going to tear you apart you little freak!"

"Keep us safe from what?" Mike asked Bonnie. The purple animatronic's only response was to slam the door shut and begin piling boxes in front of it, listen intently.

To Mike, it sounded as if a train was going through the place. A terrifying, screeching, glass-breaking, thudding, shouting train. He heard boxes fall over and the other three animatronics run around doing who knows what. He was literally starting to panic listening to everything that seemed to be going on outside the kitchen and he waved an arm at Bonnie. "Hello? Keep us safe from what?"

"Not now," Bonnie shushed him.

"Mike I don't like this…" Alisha said, sounding scared.

The ex-night guard stared at Bonnie incredulously. "What do you mean not now? It sounds like a tornado is tearing the place up out there. I _need_ to know what's going on! Why do you need to protect us? What's out there? Why did Freddy freak out over my cut arm?"

"Shut up!" Bonnie snapped, his red eyes glowing briefly before returning to normal. It worked in silencing Mike – who was temporarily reminded of staring at those same eyes through a dark doorway – and Bonnie returned his attention to listening through the door.

"Mike, I'm scared." Alisha said scooting over until she was pressing against him.

Mike absent mindedly patted her shoulder as he focused on listening to what was going on past the kitchen door. He felt his chest thump with his frantic heartbeat and tried to slow it down.

"Where'd he go?"

"Ya' lost him!"

"I didn't lose him, I never had him to begin with!"

"Guys shut up,"

Freddy's voice suddenly came from right on the other side of the door, making Mike jump. "Are you guys okay in there?"

"We're fine," Bonnie said through the door. "Is he still on the loose?"

"Yes, don't worry we'll find him soon."

Mike ran an agitated hand through his hair. He was starting to get tired of not knowing what was happening. All he had ever been getting here was more and more questions. Besides him Alisha worriedly messed with a crayon and glanced up at Bonnie.

"Bunny what's happening?"

Bonnie must have sensed the fear in Alisha's voice because he said as softly as he could. "It's nothing Alisha. We're just going to hang out in here, until they finished catching something."

"What?" Mike asked.

Bonnie gave him a pointed look and returned attention to the door. Mike sat down at the table feeling a mix of frustrated, confused, and scared. He jumped again when Bonnie suddenly spun around and took several steps towards them.

Mike looked behind him, half expecting something to be standing in the shadows, but there was nothing and he turned back towards Bonnie. "What-"

"Shhh!" Bonnie held up a paw. "Do you hear that?"

Mike was about to retort with a 'no' when he paused. There was _something_. He heard a very dull thud followed by a wild scratching that was quickly growing louder. A sense of dread swept through him as he realized it was coming from the air duct above them.

"Shit!" Bonnie swore, throwing the boxes he had stacked in front of the door to the side. "Freddy! Foxy! Chika!"

The scratching grew louder and Mike found himself backing up towards Bonnie with Alisha, never taking his eyes off the vents lining the duct. "What, is _that_?" He asked as something bright darted over one of the vents.

Bonnie struggled to open the door behind the two humans and Mike watched in mute horror a vent fell to the floor with a clatter. The sound of the other three animatronics approaching caused Mike to glance at the door for a split-second and Alisha screamed.

Spinning around, Mike only had time to blink as something small came hurtling towards him.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry for the long wait! Live seemed hell-bent on keeping me from finishing the chapter. But screw you life! I got it done.

Lol, anyway I hope you're enjoying this. You get more questions that need answering in this chapter. :) I am positively evil. I'll Updates will come either next week, or the week after depending on how fast I can type with a broken thumb. T.T (It hurts a lot).

* * *

><p>With a surprising amount of force it collided with Mike, hurtling him back into Bonnie. Losing his breath was bad enough, but when the back of his head hit Bonnie, stars flashed in Mike's eyes.<p>

He heard Alisha scream again and he pushed himself up, trying to blink away the dizziness. The small arms of Alisha snakes around his waist and refused to let go while a large hand gripped his shoulders. He was pulled backwards through the kitchen door by Bonnie and the door was slammed shut by Freddy.

Mike felt something warm run down his neck and knew without looking it was blood. The back of his head was throbbing. Bonnie moved over to the door arguing with Freddy while Mike unsteadily braced himself against the wall. Alisha was glued to his side once again and he glanced at the two animatronics.

"We should just kill him," Bonnie said.

Freddy shook his head. "We can't do that, He's still…"

"Still what? Freddy, he's too far gone. The only reason we haven't done anything to him is because you didn't want us too."

The brown animatronic shook his head again. "No, he's not. He still has a choice on whether or not he follows."

Bonnie let out a frustrated sigh and Mike cleared his throat. Freddy and Bonnie both looked at him and Mike gave them a dizzy, pointed glare. "I hate to interrupt this little, 'insider's talk', but what the hell was that thing?"

Freddy instantly appeared guilty, while Bonnie gave Freddy a 'I told you' look. Chika and Foxy came bursting around the corner. They slowed down though as they viewed the situation.

"It's complicated…" Freddy said rubbing a tuff of fur on his arm.

"Complicated?!" Mike repeated in disbelief. Boy, was that the understatement of the century! He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath to keep from screaming at them. The only thing keeping him from laying it on them was Alisha besides him. "Since the moment I stepped foot in this place all you guys have ever given me is more questions. Complicated doesn't even begin to cover what I've had to deal with. Now, I've done the best I can to deal with not finding answers, but this is one that I _need_ to know the answer too. When something comes at you through the vents, you tend to want to know what it is."

Chika opened up her mouth to say something and Freddy shook his head. Mike looked from animatronic to animatronic. "Well?"

Freddy cleared his throat. "It's one of those things… that we can't talk about."

"The one that makes you glitch out?" Mike asked. Freddy nodded and Mike let out an exasperated sigh. His head hurt and he felt scared and angry. Two feeling that didn't work for him yet seemed to be a constant. "So what? We just leave it locked up in the kitchen?"

Freddy was about to respond, but paused as the sound of clattering came from the kitchen. A smile split across Foxy's face and he walked over to the door. "If we be catchin' him first though," The pirate mused. "Then we don't have to be worryin' about it."

Freddy shook his head, "Not a good idea."

"Come on matey," Foxy complained. "He's fast, but ol' Foxy be faster."

Freddy's frown didn't leave his face and he crossed his arms, staying planted in front of the door. "No. I know you're fast Foxy, but it doesn't matter because: A, he's either waiting for us to open the door, or B-"

The bear animatronic fell silent as a giggle sounded from the kitchen. The childlike giggle continued and the source suddenly seemed to come from the other side of them, and then the other side.

"-He's already in the vents," Freddy finished his sentence.

Mike felt a chill run down his back as another giggle traveled through the building. Instinctively he reached for a reached for something that wasn't there. With a jolt he realized that his backpack was sitting next to the mattress.

"Doesn't that mean he can get anywhere?" Chika asked nervously.

Freddy nodded and tensed as yet another giggle came from a vent in the wall.

"How to we catch him then?" Bonnie asked.

As the animatronics argued Mike gently broke out of Alisha's grip and gave her a brief hug. "I'll be right back."

"Wait, where are you going?" Alisha asked rubbing her red eyes.

"I'm going to go get my backpack," Mike said. He glanced at the animatronics to see them still arguing. "It will take only a second, stay right here okay?"

Alisha gave an uncertain nod and Mike quickly moved into the dining area. He was surprised to see that some of the boxes had fallen. Bags, boots, notepads, and machinery parts were scattered everywhere. Jumping over a line of boxes he squeezed between two leaning towers of cardboard and navigated his way to where the mattress was. Relief washed through him when he grabbed his backpack and turned to leave.

"Hello."

Mike froze and slowly turned to see a small plastic clown-like boy. It's red and blue shirt and hat looked scuffed, while half of his face looked like it had seen the back end of a furnace all black and blistered. Mike zeroed in on the knife that the boy had and he felt a tingle work his way up his back. In the corner of his eye he saw an open vent in the corner next to the mattress and he took a step back.

"Will you play with me?" The boy said cocking his head to the side. The knife was passed from hand to hand and the boy's expression darkened. "Play with me."

Icy fear shot through him as Mike turned and fled.

Ducking to the side Mike sprinted down a small straightway between boxes and gave a shout of surprise when the knife imbedded itself in a box next to his head. The knife broke free of the box and was dragged back by a balloon string tied to its handle. Turning another corner Mike ran towards the small opening where he had squeezed in only to feel his arm erupt in pain. the knife flew by and continued its path. It hit one of the boxes managing to topple the whole pile over.

Mike frantically pushed through a small opening to the side and kicked the box behind him, toppling the pile. He took half a second to glance at his arm and see the small nick just above his wrist. The knife had just missed him and added another cut to the same arm.

Behind him he heard a giggle and he looked around. With no other option he began scrambling up a pile. The climb felt like forever and Mike didn't even pause when he reached the top before hurtling himself forward. He grunted with pain as came to a painful stop on the floor.

"Play with me!" The childlike voice shouted from behind him. It sounded angry.

Mike ignored the pain and thrust himself through another small opening and he was out of the pile of boxes. Another angry shout came from behind him and Mike unsteady turned to run back towards Alisha and the animatronics only for something to slam into his back.

Tripping forward Mike looked back to see the small plastic boy picking himself up from the floor, knife in hand.

"Play with me!" It shouted, launching towards him.

Twisting to the side Mike narrowly dodged the knife as it struck the floor where he had been a second before and kicked at the boy. With startling ease the small figuring dodge his kick and delivered a strong one of his own to Mike's side.

The boy yanked on the balloon string, his plastic mouth twisting into a snarl. His small form darted from one side to another, throwing Mike off as he tried to predict his next move.

"Mike!"

The ex-night guard saw Freddy and Chika burst into the dining area out of the corner of his eye, and apparently the boy saw them too because his snarl deepened and ran right for Mike, his good eyes glowing.

Jumping back, Mike tripped over his own feet and watched as the knife sailed over him. Before he could catch himself his head hit something hard resting on the ground. Stars flashed behind his eyes again and his backpack fell to the side.

"No!" The boy screamed yanking the string and bringing the knife back to him. He appeared slightly scared now. "I want him to play. I _have _to have him play! He said so!"

Chika ignored him and threw herself at him screeching while Freddy ran over to Mike.

"Mike, please tell me you're alright," Freddy worriedly said.

Shaking his head, Mike winced as his abused body stated how upset it was. Sitting up he looked at the bloody piece of machinery his head had hit. He felt a little light headed. "I think so…" He moved to stand up, but the room tittered at an odd angle and he sat back down. "I'm just a little dizzy."

Mike waited for the room to stop spinning, but it didn't, instead it seemed to grow worse and his head started throbbing.

"Mike you're bleeding really bad," Freddy said, his features etched with alarm.

Bringing a hand to the back of his head, Mike pulled it away to see it covered in his own blood. So that's why his back felt so warm… Again, Mike shook his head slowly trying to rid the foggy feeling that seemed to cling to him like a blanket. "Crap, this isn't good," He mumbled.

Another screech came from his side and Mike turned to see Chika clutching at her side while the boy threw the knife at her again. Bonnie and Foxy came rushing in to aid her and Mike felt Freddy help him to his feet. "Come on, we've got to get you out of here."

Mike winced as pain flashed up his cut arm, but it was quickly replaced with the dizziness. The room was spinning so badly that Freddy was nearly carrying him. His feet were almost useless.

"Look out!"

Mike had the sudden sense of vertigo as Freddy threw him upwards and delivered a rather savage punch to the plastic boy who had jumped at them sending him flying, before catching Mike.

"Are you okay?" Freddy asked.

Mike nodded numbly, both his head and heart pounding. Alisha appeared from around the corner and ran over to Mike and Freddy While the plastic boy picked himself up, scowling at Foxy, Bonnie, and an enraged Chika.

"You don't understand," The boy said shaking his head. Blackened flakes fell off of his face. "I have to. He said so!" He pointed towards Mike. "I have to play with him!"

"Ya' won't be harmin' Mikey," Foxy warned, his voice dark.

The boy shook his head again and a half-smile overcame his features. "Not me… _He_ needs him. He wants him."

The animatronics jolted backwards when the boy said it like they had been struck and Mike felt Freddy's grip tighten on him. Mike felt another bout of dizziness wash over him and he had to close his eyes for a second.

"He will get him." The boy said.

Freddy stared at the small figure who was continuing to point at Mike, looking stunned. All of the animatronics appeared that way, staring at the boy in disbelief.

"He won't touch Mike!" Freddy suddenly snarled. Mike gave a startled yelp as Freddy moved partly to shield him from the plastic boy's view.

The rest of the animatronics seemed upset by whatever the boy had said because they all gave angry shouts of their own.

"He'll have to walk over my dead body!" Bonnie said.

"I dare 'im to," Foxy growled, baring his teeth.

"If he comes after Mike, I'll kill him." Chika stated, her eyes flashing.

The boy gave them all a strange look, one that Mike thought probably mirrored his own. What had he said to make them so angry? And who was this 'he' that they all were talking about?

"I'll give you one chance," Freddy growled. He set Mike down against the wall and turned to face the plastic boy. "You can either go back to the room, or we'll destroy you. I don't know how you talked to him, but he is _not going to get Mike!_"

Mike worked his way unsteadily to his feet and used the wall to move so he could see past Freddy. He wanted answers, he wanted answer so bad that it was killing him, but at the same time, he was beginning to wonder if the answers were worth it. Whoever this 'he' was, the animatronics didn't have a high opinion of him.

Mike leaned against the wall and watched as the boy looked around, his gaze settling on him. He saw a smirk cross the boy's good side and he made sure that Alisha was next to him. "No room," The boy stated. The knife flashed in his hand and he twirled it around.

"I was hoping you would say that," Bonnie said lunging forward.

The boy jumped to the side, evading Bonnie and was immediately confronted by Foxy and Chika. Throwing the knife to the side, the boy used the balloon ribbon to swing it to the side and wrapped it around Chika's legs tripping her. Foxy growled and jumped over Chika reaching with his hook.

While the boy played a game of dodge-and-duck with the three animatronics Freddy stayed firmly planted in front of Mike and Alisha, tense and watching the fight with a critical eye.

Mike's legs started shaking and the fight was making him dizzy again. He sank back down against the wall. Besides him, Alisha looked at the wall behind him with wide eyes and she gave Mike a concerned look. "Mike, you got blood on the wall."

Aware that he was still bleeding Mike cupped his head, ignoring the pain as he watched the plastic boy manage to avoid Bonnie, Chika, and Foxy. Every so often the boy would glance his way, as if checking to see if he was still there. The half-smirk hadn't left his face and it was starting to freak Mike out.

It was like he was waiting for something…

Freddy seemed to sense this too and he glanced around before returning his attention to the fight.

Mike attempted to stand up, but lost his balance and slid back down against the wall. Frowning he tried again with the same level of success. He began panicking as the foggy feeling grew thicker and he brought his hand back up to press firmly against the back of his head. It hurt, but the pain cleared some of the haze that clung to him.

Bonnie gave a frustrated shout when the boy dodged another swipe once again and jumped for him. The smirk on the boy's face hardened and he moved with startling speed around Bonnie and broke through the ring of animatronics. Instead of heading towards the boxes where he could easily get away, he ran straight for Freddy, Mike, and Alisha.

As Freddy crouched to intercept him Mike saw the knife flash in the boy's hand. Somewhere he found the strength to stand up and placed himself in front of Alisha.

The room suddenly spun crazily as something hit him from the side.

Mike heard Alisha scream, he saw a flash of pink and white, he felt something grip him like a vice, and then he hit the ground. Everything seemed to suddenly be muted and blurry as his head struck the ground, like he was underwater and he struggled to keep his eyes open.

The vice grip swiftly moved from his arm, up to his neck and began to constrict. Mike gagged and fought against the strange wire-like tube around his throat as he felt the ground disappear from underneath him. Gravity began to help his assailant and he kicked, trying to breathe. He thought he heard Alisha scream some more, but his ears were ringing so badly he couldn't tell. All he could focus on was the fact that he couldn't breathe.

A sharp shout from somewhere caused the grip to lessen just slightly and for a hand to grab the back of his jeans. The support was enough to let Mike breath and he drank in the air gratefully. Clutching at the wire around his neck he regained his focus and the voices – more like shouting – became clearer. He was high above the ground near the ceiling. Bonnie was protectively holding Alisha, while Freddy and Chika were keeping the boy at bay and Foxy was standing directly below him shouting.

The dizziness plus his fear of heights was enough to make him stiffen.

A soft chuckle came from right next to his ear. "Oh darlin' don't worry, I wouldn't let you fall just yet."

Glancing to the side, Mike's heart stopped when he saw a white and pink fox animatronic holding him. Just like the plastic boy, it looked faded giving it a disturbing look, but was even more freaky was the fact that it didn't have a suit. Mike could see the whole endoskeleton and a spindly black arm was wrapped around his neck while the other was hooked through one of his belt loops. Its face was inches away from his own, leering at him.

Mike reflexively tried to jerk away from it, but was unable to. "I wouldn't struggle if I were you." It said in a definite female voice that sounded like it had been mangled. She looked so much like Foxy and yet so different.

"Ya' got nowhere to go," Foxy yelled, looking up at both of them. The commotion going on with the boy made it a little hard to hear him. "Let him go!"

"What's that dearie? I couldn't hear you," The white and pink fox laughed.

Trying not to move Mike glanced down at Foxy. He had never liked heights and he felt sick and terrified. What was going on? The arm around his throat tightened a brief second and he clutched at it. Below, Foxy gave an angry shout and the arm loosened.

"Lighten up dear," The fox next to Mike chided. "I'm only playing."

"Not with Mike yer not!" Foxy retorted.

"Hmm…" She looked at Mike for a second. He clenched his eyes closed when he felt her shift behind him, readjusting her grip. "Actually, I am. He's so cute, I think I'm going to keep him."

Gathering the courage Mike glanced back and saw that the only thing keeping them up, was the endoskeleton's legs wrapped around a light fixture. Feeling sick again, Mike quickly looked back down.

"It's been so long since I've been out. I love what you've done with the place. A lot more… festive. Fits the whole 'end of the world' quite nicely."

A little ways off, Bonnie jumped to the side as the boy's knife struck where he had been moments before. The boy for his part was moving furiously, trying to reach Alisha. Somehow Chika was glitching out on the floor and Freddy was trying his best to catch the boy. Cradling a sobbing Alisha, Bonnie glanced frantically around before his eyes hardened and he ran down one of the hallways.

Mike heard the fox holding him curse quietly as the plastic boy ran after Bonnie with Freddy following.

"Mangle… there's no way out of this," Foxy said slowly as the room grew quieter.

_Mangle?_ Mike thought. Was that the name of this… thing holding him? It fit her perfectly. At least, that's what Mike thought. Mangle on the other hand snarled at the name.

"So naive Foxy, don't you know I always get out?" She said. "Nothing can hold me when I put my mind to it. Even your so called 'unbreakable' cage. I made sure to destroy that."

The pirate fox below them growled and Mike watched as he flinched slightly, as something dripped on him. When he flinched again, Mike focused on the droplets and saw it was blood falling down onto the floor and Foxy.

His blood.

Mangle tightened her grip around Mike's neck. "And once I get out of this, I'm going to show Mike a good time. Being cooped up in here can't be good for him and the boss has plans for him."

Foxy trembled, looking like he had when the plastic boy had told them about that _He._ "No yer not. Let go of Mike."

"Why should I?" Mangle pouted. She started swinging both of them, and Mike clutched at her arm in fear trying to pry it off of him. "Ever since we reopened it was always you guys who got to play with the night guards, making them scream and beg. I want a turn."

"We weren't playin'," Foxy retorted, his eye beginning to glow.

"That depends," The Mangle mused. The hand holding Mike's belt loop let go and Mike was widened his eyes as her other arm started crushing his windpipe. He was literally getting hanged.

"No Stop!" Foxy shouted, staring up at them desperately. Mike gasped out as Mangle picked him up by his pants, allowing him to breathe. His arms were shaking from trying to hold himself up.

Behind him Mangle laughed. "Why don't you try and reach him?" She let go of Mike's pants and he was hanging by his neck again. "Come on, save him Foxy."

Crouching down, Foxy leapt upwards and for a second it looked like he would be able to reach them. Behind Mike though, Mangle suddenly arched backwards, bringing herself and Mike even closer to the ceiling and out of reach for Foxy. She cackled as Foxy landed and allowed Mike to breath.

"You were so close. Here try again."

Mike grew dizzy as she let go of his pants again and he grasped at her arm weakly. If she kept this up he was going to die, he was just sure of it. He was jerked upwards when Foxy jumped for a second time and he gasped for breath.

He knew he shouldn't, but Mike felt disappointed that Foxy couldn't reach him.

"Let him go!" Foxy nearly screamed. His eye were glowing bright amber.

Mangle ignored him and Mike watched disgustedly as she twisted her head over his, looking at him upside down. "He is cute. And the blood adds a nice touch to those brown eyes. darlin' I bet you were a heart-breaker in high school."

Foxy snarled, sounding infuriated as Mangle let go of Mike once more, cutting off his air.

"Hold your horses Foxy. You got a chance to play with him, now it's my turn." She brought her face closer to Mike's. "And I plan on enjoying every second of it."

Struggling to pull himself upwards, Mike felt his panic grow when she didn't reach to pick him back up. With horror he realized that this time she wasn't going to let him breathe. She just sat there watching. Dots began swimming in his eyes and Mike still couldn't get a drop of oxygen.

His hands started to slowly lose their grip.

A force unexpectedly slammed into him from below him.

Mangle screeched as her legs lost their hold on the light fixture and they both began falling.

Mike drank in air avidly as she let go of him, more focused on catching herself than maintaining her chokehold on him. The knowledge that he was about to hit the ground came to him too late.

"Gotcha'!" Foxy exclaimed as he stopped Mike's collision course with the ground. His hook dug painfully into Mike's leg, but Mike would have gladly chosen it over being choked by a creepier version of Foxy. Heck as long as he could breathe he would take a few more hooks over Mangle.

"Hey, I wasn't done with him!" Mangle growled. She looked like some wild animal being on all four of her spindly limbs and her head cocked to one side. Mike shuddered when he saw she was missing an eye.

He felt Foxy tighten his hold on him. "ya' won't be touchin' Mikey, not anymore Mangle."

A maniacal grin overtook Mangle's features. "Awe, do you care about him?"

"Of course I do. Mikey and Alisha are both important ta' me."

"Good, then it will be that more satisfying to see you suffer when I break him," Mangle stated before slithering like some snake on her limbs towards them.

Still clutching Mike, Foxy turned tail and ran.

The hall seemed to melt into blackness for Mike. His throat burned and head hurt, he felt emotionally spent, and he was so dizzy. The darkness instantly vanished as the last light of an evening sun hit him in the face. With a start he realized they were outside.

He struggled to sit up and look around, but Foxy give a reassuring squeeze, keeping him in place. "Don't move lad. Just hang on, these waters are about ta' get rough." Foxy said, glancing down at him. And with that Mike found himself holding onto Foxy for dear life as their pace increased.

He could hear Mangle still after them, but it was intermixed with the sound of zombies. Foxy weaved his way almost gracefully through a small cluster of the undead and Mike closed his eyes when a decaying face suddenly appeared inches from his own. He waited for a bite, and cracked his eyes open when it didn't come.

Mike shivered as cold air washed over his bare torso. "Where are we going?" He asked, wincing at his scratchy, foggy voice.

"Away from her!" Foxy shouted as an enraged scream came from behind them.

Imagining Mangle chasing them, Mike fought the nausea that threatened to overwhelm him and closed his eyes.

He didn't want any of this. He didn't want to be carried around by an animatronic that had tried to kill him. He didn't want to face the undead. He didn't want to be in the clutches of an animatronic who was actively trying to kill him. He was in a lose-lose situation.

Mike didn't know how long he had his eyes closed, but when he opened them he could only see the dark outline of Foxy and a starry sky. The only sound that could be heard was Foxy's quick footsteps and even that was strangely muted for Mike.

Unsure of how to react to the sudden peace, Mike remained still. After a while the sound of the surf reached Mike and Foxy began to gradually slow down. Finally Foxy came to a complete stop and carefully set Mike against a bank of sand.

Mike winced as his head throbbed with the movement and in the faint light saw Foxy flinch. "Sorry lad,"

The human opened his mouth to speak but stopped a sharp pain traveled through his throat. He tried again with similar success and eventually gave up shaking his head.

He was surprised when Foxy promptly collapsed next to him shaking slightly. "I'm sorry ya' got hurt by her. Sorry I couldn't reach ya'."

Mike watched confused and a little alarmed as Foxy's body steamed slightly in the cooling night air. There was no moon, so the only light source was the stars and Foxy's eye which were glowing dimly, staring out into the distant surf. "I tried to reach ya', but I couldn't… Saw it in yer eyes… Ya' were trusting me to save ya' and I didn't... I'm sorry."

Foxy's eye flickered for a minute before brightening and turning to regard Mike. "Can ya' forgive me?"

A particularly loud break hit the beach and Mike shivered. He was still confused about what had just happened and was worried sick about where Alisha was. Could he forgive Foxy?

Could he forgive Foxy? Mike recognized that Foxy was asking for so much more than a simple pardon. He was looking for forgiveness to _everything_ he had done to Mike. He was looking to be forgiven for what he had done to Mike his first week working at Freddy's. Could he forgive him?

Staring at the amber eye watching him, Mike took a shaky breath.

And nodded yes.

Yes he could forgive. He wouldn't forget – he doubted he ever could – but he could definitely forgive. It didn't mean that he trusted them completely, and he was still going to get answers, but he could forgive. Maybe it would help him get over his fear.

In the darkness he thought he could see Foxy smile. "Thank ya' Mikey…"

Another wave broke on the beach and Mike shook. He was still without a shirt and now that adrenaline wasn't pounding through his veins he felt freezing. He felt Foxy scoot closer to him in the darkness and found himself relaxing in the warmth the animatronic seemed to radiate. There was still the initial fear of Foxy, but he could deal with it.

"All that runnin' did us some good," Foxy laughed quietly.

Mike sighed and closed his eyes.

They were just going to rest for a moment. He still needed to find Alisha. Make sure she was okay. Make sure _he_ was okay.

Before Mike even realized it, he was asleep.

* * *

><p>AN: And there you go! The Mangle and Balloon boy. Where did they come from? Why were the animatronics locking them up? Who is this mysterious _he_? Mwahahahaha! That's for me to know and you to find out.

Okay honestly though, what do you guys think? Is my writing to detail-laden or to graphic? Is there something I could do to make it better? I'm always looking for a way to make my writing better ya' know? I'd love some feedback :P Have a great week guys.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Surprise! I'm back! XD hey guys, what's up? Sorry about the lack of updates, the holidays were a little hectic for me and there was a _lot _going on. (That and someone spiked the freakin' eggnog. I'm never drinking that stuff again -_-) Anyways, I have been completely off the grid except to quickly steal a cousins phone to publish Christmas so I was surprised this morning to get on and find all you're reviews. O.O I decided I had to respond to two reviews.

First off, **Person**... I am flattered that you took time to give me that much criticism. And you pointed out several flaws that I have issues with. I've never been the best with flow, and I write based on how I feel IRL (For that I truly apologize) I am trying to fix that.

And **fnaf marionette...** How did you guess where I lived? XD actually I live very close to the Canadian border in an barren state called Montana. But Alaska and Montana aren't _too_ different. Right?

Regardless thank you everyone for the favs, follows, and reviews. They mean a lot to me. 2015 is going to be a good year, I can feel it.

Now for the story!

* * *

><p>Mike jerked upright as the sound of thunder crackled overhead.<p>

His head was pounding something fierce and his throat felt like it was on fire. He nearly gagged dry swallowing. Above him the gray overcast boiled angrily. Thunder rumbled and the clouds were briefly illuminated with lightning.

Looking around in confusion, Mike beheld the barren beach. Farther along the shore he could see several apartments set up next to a pier and a few boats still moored to it. Behind him there was an empty field and the city rose up after that. The waves crashed onto the beach, driven by the approaching storm and wind that ran across the sand.

Realization flooded him when he remembered what happened and he looked at Foxy next to him. During the time he had been asleep Foxy had scooted even closer to him and warm fur was pressed against his side. The animatronics eyes were dark, as if he were just some machine, limp and abandoned on the beach, but Mike knew better. He nudged the still form.

He watched as the eyes flickered for a moment and Foxy made a mechanical whine, sitting up. "Oh me back hurts…"

Mike opened his mouth to speak, but clamped it shut when all he was able to produce was a dry croak. It hurt to even move his head and Mike tenderly ran a hand along his neck to the back of his head. He grimaced when he felt the mixture of dried blood and sand.

Foxy began to wipe sand out of his fur and glanced up at the storm. "We've got to move lad. I don't think water is good fer me."

Mike nodded stiffly and stood up. His mind was spinning in a permanent fog. Alisha, was she alright? Had Bonnie gotten her away from that plastic boy? Where were they? He wanted to ask Foxy questions, but he couldn't.

A clap of thunder caused both of them to jump and Foxy shuddered. He nodded towards the apartments that Mike had seen earlier, rubbing his hand and hook together nervously. "Let's be headin' that way."

Nodding in agreement Mike stood up and winced. His neck _hurt_, it was stiff and didn't feel like it was going to get better any time soon. He gave Foxy a strange look when he jumped with a shout and all but started sprinting for the apartments. His question was answered when an icy drop hit his shoulder, and then another, and another.

Mike ran after Foxy who was already half way there, staying just ahead of the rain. The rusty-furred animatronic was moving fast, even faster than when he had come down the halls when he was working at Freddy's.

Mike eventually reached the nearest apartment entrance Foxy stood in, cold and wet.

"Sorry mate," Foxy said. He glanced out at the heavy rain and gave a sheepish smile. "Animatronics an' water don't mix."

Mike just nodded trying to catch his breath. He gestured towards the rest of the house and rose an eyebrow. Were there any zombies in the house?

Foxy looked down the hallway as he shut the door. "What?"

Setting aside his dignity Mike raised his arms stiffly and began walking strangely trying to impersonate a zombie. He gestured down the hall again.

"Oh, ya' want me ta' look for them dead walkers," Foxy said. The pirate fox gave him quizzical look. "But why didn't ya' just say it? Are ya' alright lad?"

With a sigh Mike pointed to his throat and shrugged.

"Ya' can't talk?"

Mike nodded. He noticed Foxy's expression darken as he stepped past him further into the apartment. For a moment Mike stood by the door with the only sound being that of rain on the roof.

He shook it off though and glanced around for something to use as a makeshift weapon. Foxy wouldn't be able to leave the apartment until the rain stopped and Mike had the feeling that separating was a bad idea so that meant he was stuck here. If there was a zombie in here he wanted to deal with it as quickly as possible.

A shout came from above him followed by the whole ceiling to crack. Mike jumped away and impulsively tried to call out for Foxy. His dry throat would have none of that though and gave him a painful jolt. Eyes watering Mike ran into bare living room and spotted a set of stairs. He ran up them two at a time.

Coming around a corner he saw Foxy kneeling over a body and blanched at the black blood pooling around it.

Definitely a zombie.

Foxy looked up at him and stepped back from the body wiping his hook off on the carpet. "She jumped me." He mumbled under his breath. Mike tried not to stare at the mess.

Thunder cracked outside and Mike tried to make himself busy. A broken floorboard served him quite nicely as he searched the rest of the house. Coming across a closed door he paused for a moment before cracking it open. A vile stench accosted him and he quickly closed it, deciding against it.

The rest of the house was just as bare as the front hallway and Mike eventually stood in a room facing the ocean watching the storm rage through the window.

He was worried about Alisha, and being stuck here wasn't helping him. But what could he do besides pray for the storm to pass quickly?

Foxy stuck his head into the room, "Ya' might be wantin' to come look at this matey, there might be some trouble comin'." Following the pirate fox, Mike was led to the kitchen. Foxy peered through the glass door towards the beach. "Do ya' know any of them?"

Mike squinted through the window and felt his jaw drop. The small trio of people trudging through the rain with weapons in hand... He knew one of them… but it couldn't be.

Foxy must have noticed his shocked expression. "What?" He asked. "Trouble?" Mike shook his head violently and Foxy frowned. "Ya' know them?"

Mike nodded and shivered at the ugly memory that came up.

Trudging out in the rain with two other men was none other than Ty.

His dress clothes had been swapped for some camo pants and a vest while a pair of sunglasses rested on his nose. The other two were similarly dressed and Mike noticed with alarm that they were heading towards them.

"What?" Foxy asked as Mike backed up.

Mike shook his head and glanced around the kitchen. They needed to hide! He had no doubt Ty would recognize him instantly and he did _not_ want another conversation with that mind-fucker. It took a few seconds for his foggy mind to realize that the apartment they were in was empty and that there was almost nowhere to hide.

Foxy followed him as he paced back out into the living room. "What's tha' matter lad?"

Mike pointed towards the kitchen door and shook his head.

Glancing towards the door Foxy scratched the back of his head. "Them be trouble?"

Mike nodded and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Where could they hide?

"Then we best be hidin'," Foxy stated. He opened a stairwell door that Mike hadn't noticed until now and ducked inside. Mike glanced through the kitchen and realized that he didn't have a choice as Ty and the other men were a few feet from the door. Following Foxy he shut the door just as the kitchen door opened.

"-Don't care when they said they needed those supplies. It's better that they show up late than not at all." The voice of Ty could be heard.

"We were supposed to be back an hour ago," Another deeper voice growled out.

The sound of footsteps could be heard as Ty laughed. "So what? It's better to arrive safe and alive than wet, and sick."

Mike could hear grumbling and inched back as the footsteps got louder. "I don't like this guy." One voice said.

"Look, that's fine, but he knows the commander. And I for one don't want to raise Cain because I shot one of the commander's friends." Said the other.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it…"

Mike froze when he felt his back bump into the form of Foxy and watched the light between the door and floor disappear. An instant later something heavy thumped against the door.

"Man I'm beat," The first voice said again. Mike realized that he was sitting against the door. "Do you have any smoke on you?"

"You know I don't smoke Kyle."

The only light in the stairwell was the week yellow beam of Foxy's eyes.

"I know, had to ask though… Man this zombie shit is making me go cold turkey. Why the hell are we out here?"

"I don't know, but apparently it's pretty big. The order came directly from the Secretary of Defense. Do you realize how big that is now?"

"Yeah no kidding. I didn't know we still had this kind of equipment lying around. But why do they need to send in specialists? I thought the government would hole them up somewhere they could use them. And I heard they were going to ship us some containment pods. Why the hell would we need containment pods?"

"I asked the same thing! They wouldn't say, but I've got a feeling that we're here to collect something."

"One of those dead walkers?"

"No, something else…"

"I don't like it."

Neither do I, but we don't call the shots."

"…My back is killing me, what did we even grab anyways?"

"Who knows? Freak up there seems to know about it more than we do though."

Mike's back was aching from staying in his hunched position. The tiny stairwell felt claustrophobic and the looming presence of Foxy right behind him wasn't helping. He didn't want to move though for fear of the one of the men hearing him.

"What did he say his name was again?"

"Tyler."

"Do we really have to bring him? Weren't our order's 'shoot on sight'?"

"As much as I hate him too, He says he knows where more of this stuff is. And to be completely honest we would have been dead if he hadn't shown up when he had."

For a minute it was quiet and Mike leaned forward slightly. He reflexively jumped as a large sickly thud was suddenly heard from right outside the door. The noise he made though was drowned out by the two men shouting.

"Jesus Christ man! What the hell!"

"Fuck, some of it touched me!"

"Oh quite you're bellyaching." Said Ty's voice. "I found our little 'friend' up here. And by the looks of things, someone was nice enough to kill her for us. _Very_ recently."

"So? Why did you have to drop it down in front of us for? We don't want anything to do with this shit."

"What I'm trying to say is that someone has been through here as early as this morning. We need to be careful could still be nearby."

"Whatever, if we see anyone we'll shoot them alright? And we need to get moving, I've got some explaining to do and I don't want any more delays. So just hike up your pants and deal with the rain okay? It looks like it's about to end anyways."

Mike listened as they exited the house – with some grumbling from Ty – and waited a moment before cautiously cracking the door.

The twisted face of the zombie that Foxy had killed greeted him and Mike grimaced. Opening the door fully he stepped over the dead girl and began stretching his cramped muscles. Behind him Foxy came out and gave the girl a wide berth.

Mike rubbed his arms as a cold draft wafted through the room and traced it to the open kitchen door. The smell of rain and mud filled made him pause and take a deeper breath before closing the door. Outside the downpour had faded into a steady drizzle, and even that looked like it was going to clear out any moment.

"That was a close one," Foxy stated peering through the kitchen window.

Mike nodded before pointing towards the door. Patches of sunlight could be seen outside and he wanted to head back towards the pizzeria. Even though Mangle or that plastic boy could be waiting, he had to find out where Alisha was.

"Ya' want to go outside?" Foxy asked.

Shaking his head, Mike pointed at both of them and then back outside.

"Ya' want us ta' go outside?" Foxy asked scratching the back of his head.

Letting out a frustrated sigh Mike rubbed his temples, trying to get rid of the permanent fog that seemed to hang over him. It was just his luck to get stuck with someone who was the worst at charades. Foxy must have noticed his frustration because he gave him a helpless look. "Ya' want to go after them?"

Mike shook his head.

Foxy let out a groan. "Oy… Freddy would know what ya' want…" He paused when Mike nodded. "What? Freddy?" Mike nodded and made a rolling gesture. "Ya' want Freddy?"

Another nod from Mike and Foxy continued. "Ya' want to find Freddy? No? erm, Chika? Bonnie? Alisha?"

Mike clapped and pointed at Foxy, a grin plastered to his face.

"Findin' Alisha huh?" Foxy said. He glanced outside. The rain had stopped completely now, but the sky was still pretty cloudy. Mike watched as Foxy fiddled with his eye patch. "The only way we'd be findin' them is to be goin' back there and Mangle might still be lurkin'," He growled. "Her and her little Balloon boy. Mikey… I don't want to take ya' back there."

Mike shrugged. He didn't want to go back there either, not when they could face Mangle, but if it could help him find Alisha then he would do it. And in all honesty where else did the animatronics have to go? Mike was pretty sure that the Pizzeria was the only thing they had ever known. Bonnie and Freddy had probably bolted just like Foxy had with no destination in mind. Eventually they would return to the pizzeria.

Right?

Though, the thought of having to face Mangle again or… Balloon boy wasn't especially pleasant.

Foxy shook his head. "There has ta' be another way ta' find 'em. I'm not lettin' her get her hands on ya' again. She thinks she be the best at…" Foxy trailed off grumbling to himself.

Mike raised an eyebrow. Now that he thought about it, there seemed to be something between her and Foxy. They at least had personal history. Mike couldn't help but muse that it must not have been good as Foxy stalked out of the room.

Rubbing his sore neck Mike trailed after Foxy. They needed to get moving! Couldn't Foxy see that? He tapped Foxy's shoulder and pointed insistently towards the door, but Foxy shook his head. "No."

The robotic fox began pacing in the living room while Mike stood impatiently nearby. Sunlight came and went through the window and Mike tried to speak. He stopped though when his throat erupted in agony. For the first time he realized how thirsty he was.

Growling to himself, Foxy turned to walk up the stair and Mike reached out to stop him.

"Just leave me be!" Foxy suddenly shouted. He rounded on Mike and the human felt his old fear come rushing back. "I'm not taking ya' back there!" And with that Foxy turned tail and ran up the stairs two at a time.

Mike tried to quell his frantic heartbeat and balled his hands into fists.

If Foxy wasn't going to take him, then he was going to go himself!

Glaring at the stairs Mike turned and walked out the front door.

Following the empty street, Mike headed towards the city. In the back of his mind he knew that they shouldn't be separating, but he wasn't going to wait for Foxy to man up.

Mike froze as heavy breathing came from the other side of a small pickup and had to remind himself that he needed to be careful. The zombies were more active during the day. Staying alert he quickly began making his way down the street. Thankfully there weren't that many zombies and Mike was able to evade the few he did come across.

As he moved farther into the city he became aware of just how exhausted he still was. He would trip over nothing every once and a while, his legs burned every time he crouched down, his neck nearly refused to turn for him, and his arms quivered when he pulled himself over concrete wall.

Mike realized with alarm that he wasn't exactly thinking straight either. He had walked right past a turn he needed to take, and it took him longer than it should have to pick out a path past the zombies he came across.

He knew that there was a possibility that he might have a concussion with all the hits to the head he had taken and he prayed that he didn't. That would be just what he needed in a situation like this.

Taking a deep breath, Mike edged around a darkened subway entrance and eased himself behind the charred remains of a car. Ahead of him a large group of zombies were moving around like a bunch of jittery birds, cocking their heads at the slightest noise and eying each other. He could see shapes move in the buildings on either side which meant he couldn't go through there either.

He glanced through through the husk-of-a-car to see the intersection with the pileup of cars several blocks ahead. The memory of his and Alisha's close encounter there didn't bode well with him. The bus now laid on its side and Mike blanched at the amount of zombies wandering about. He knew where he needed to go, but he couldn't get there.

He moved back as a zombie began drift towards his hiding spot and crouched next to the subway entrance. Biting his lip, Mike watched the horde move like a nest of ants and glanced at the stairway leading into inky blackness.

There was no way he was going through them, and going around wasn't an option. But… He _could _go underneath them.

Not wanting to backtrack and possibly come across an upset Foxy or Ty, Mike gathered himself and began his descent.

Even though he had lived here his whole childhood, Mike had never taken the subway. So he was surprised to see more stairs when he reached the bottom. He paused for a moment and listened for any indication that there was something down here before moving down the second set of stairs.

The light came to a stop here, and Mike unsteadily placed a hand on the wall and used it to navigate further into the darkness. Every step he took seemed unnaturally loud and Mike did his best to be silent.

When he took the next step, there was no floor to meet his foot and he was sent falling forward with a chocked gasp. Grunting when he caught himself, Mike scrambled to his feet as the walls echoed his noise loudly.

He waited for ten seconds… thirty… The echoes fell silent and he let out a relieved sigh. Looking around blindly he reached for a wall. There was absolutely no light down here. He could tell where he had come from because it was a shade lighter, but that was it. _This was a bad idea_; his mind seemed to repeat to him over and over.

Mike nearly tripped over a metal bar that he quickly found out was a rail and realized he was in the tunnel. He tried to remember which way the pizzeria was only to freeze.

Did he just hear something?

After a moment of nothing he chose a direction and stopped again. He felt pinpricks of fear on his back as the quietness was broken by a dry rasp.

A dull thud came from behind him, and then another. Almost sounding like he had when he fell.

In Mike's fog-addled brain he could picture slumped forms falling onto the tracks behind him, before starting to crawl towards him.

He felt his heart pick up its pace and he began walking down the tunnel. Behind him the noise followed him. And it did sound like something was _crawling_ after him. He walked through a puddle and a little later the sound of splashes came from behind him.

Trying to control his fear, Mike slowed down and moved to the other side of the tunnel as quietly as he could. Maybe whatever was following him was as blind as he was and was only following the noise he made? That theory was shattered as he heard something clamber over the tracks towards him and he bolted.

Now terrified, Mike moved as fast as one could in complete darkness. A few times he stumbled over an uneven patch of ground, but no matter how fast he moved, his pursuer kept up with him. Eventually he ended up in an all-out sprint with his hands in front of him and his footfall echoing widely around him.

Ahead he suddenly noticed a distant light and he picked up his pace. He quickly found that the source of the light was a missing roof. A steady stream of water was running down a slope of rubble and cars and Mike instantly pulled himself upward. A strangled gasp came from behind him and he took the risk to glance over his shoulder.

A stark white face riddled with dried blood caused him to shudder as the badly squashed form of a man crawled out of the light. Mike hoisted his body up higher and grasped the edge of a street, pulling himself up and out of the tunnel.

Panting and trying to keep his eyes open, Mike looked back down to see the man staring at him from the edge of the light. The anger and hunger in his eyes made Mike feel cold, but the zombie refused to move into the light.

Why was that zombie staying out of the light? Weren't they more… energized in light?

Shaking his head, Mike stood up and looked around trying to get his bearings. He recognized the buildings around him straightaway and moved towards the pizzeria.

As he came to a corner and peeked around it, he had an extreme case of déjà vu. Hadn't he been in this spot just a few days ago with the animatronics? It felt like weeks. At least this time it was just him trying to get into the pizzeria. The parking lot was emptier now too. Only a few zombies were walking around and glaring at each other.

Grabbing a rock Mike threw it over the zombie's heads and silently congradulated himself when it bounced off a car and disappeared around a corner.

Every zombie in the area zeroed in on the noise and moved with startling swiftness towards where he had thrown the rock. Mike waited a moment to be sure that there weren't any stragglers before making a quick dash for the door.

Mike's senses went on full alert as he passed through the open door. His nervousness making him shiver. Mangle or… Balloon Boy – as Foxy had called him – could be anywhere.

He made his way further into the pizzeria cautiously. The place seemed vacant. Passing the office Mike spotted the cracked tablet and picked it up. The image feed was even worse with the shattered glass, but Mike quickly went through all the cameras only to find nothing. There was no sign of anyone.

Setting the tablet down he crept into the dining area. Now that he theoretically wasn't going to die, Mike was able to see just how much of a mess they had made. Boxes and their items were strewed around like leaves from a tree, while the walkways through the boxes were gone. His eyes were drawn to a bloody machine part and Mike realized that it was his blood.

Mike looked around. He got here, but now what? Was he supposed to wait for one of the animatronics to show up, or was he supposed to try and go find them? He hated to admit it, but he didn't want to be here alone for a minute. It always felt like _something_ was watching him.

Trying to shake it off, Mike suddenly remembered his backpack and he went over to where he had fallen. His backpack had a few key items such as his medication and the empty pistol. After a quick search he gave up though, there was no way he was going to be able to look for it properly without making a bunch of noise and he didn't want to do that.

With quick steps Mike made his way back to the office. He could hole up there until something happened.

Glad that the place still had power he shut both doors and looked for a way to turn off the light. There was no light switch though. Confused, Mike looked along the walls and even looked underneath the desk, but he didn't find one.

With a shrug Mike unsteadily climbed up onto the desk and reached to unscrew the light. With the light off it would be easier to see something through the glass and make it harder for someone out there to look in.

He paused when he noticed a small inconspicuous switch sitting above the light fixture on the ceiling. Was that how you turned it off?

Reaching up he flicked it.

The desk – or more accurately – the whole office suddenly trembled and Mike fell off the desk. The sensation of moving hit Mike and he scramble to open the door only to freeze when he looked through the glass on the door. Instead of seeing the hallway a solid sheet of metal greeted him. Turning he saw the same thing through the other door and the hair on the back of his neck rose. What was going on?

He watched as the metal wall rose and realized he was going downwards. This office… was an elevator? There was even more of this freaking place?!

Mike felt his head throb and rubbed his temples. He looked up at the tiny switch now hidden behind the light and wondered what he had truly gotten himself into.

Eventually the metal to his left gave way to a tiny room. The office came to shuddering stop and Mike glanced uncertainly at the door button before pressing it. With a hiss the door opened and he stepped out.

The room he entered was so bizarre that it took Mike a second to convince himself that he was underground. The red shag carpet went to three walls that had been painted so they looked like wood. A fourth wall had been converted into shelves and was piled high with files, CDs, tapes, USBs, and a few other things. A desk sat against the adjacent wall, housing several computers and some strange machine that was continuously whirling.

Two pale yellow lights in the ceiling showed that everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Mike slowly walked over to the shelves and looked pulled out a file.

Several sheets of paper fell out and Mike bent to pick them up. The date on one caught his attention. _Jeez is this old. June 8, 1986_ He thought. _To Director HAMIS. From…_ Mike furrowed his brows at the blacked out line. The subject was blacked out too.

_On the second of June, it was discovered that Subject MRNN3T3 had escaped… _He paused as another black mark covered the next word. _He was soon after found at the location… blank… This incident along with… blank… reinforced the fact that the… blank… are not running at full capacity. If… blank… had included a… blank…_

Mike let the paper go and ran a hand over his face. What the hell was this? He looked at the rest of the papers to seem that they were similarly blacked out. He returned the papers and the file back to its spot and grabbed an object.

It took a minute to recognize what it was. A floppy disk. Even though he had never used them, Mike remembered his parents using them for an old computer. By why would there be a floppy disk down here? Why was any of this down here? Flipping it around Mike saw _D12_ written on it.

He placed it back and walked over to the desk.

Some computers looked like they should belong in a museum while others looked like they came from a sci-fi movie. All of them covered in dust and with dark screens. Mike spied a floppy disk port in one of the older computers and glanced at the shelf.

Blowing some of the dust away he clicked a key. The screen flickered on and a box appeared.

He needed a password?

Mike shook his head and stepped back. He didn't know what was going on, and he was too tired to figure it out. His head _hurt_ and he just wanted to questions to end. Turning he walked back towards the office. Once inside he climbed up on the desk and hit the switch again.

The door shut and a shuddering groan echoed through the room as he started going back up.

Remembering what he had originally planned, Mike reached up and unscrewed the bulb so it went dark and blindly climbed down and sank into the chair.

He just wanted to find Alisha and get some answers. Was that too much to ask for?

* * *

><p>AN: And then there was Five Nights at Freddy's 3!


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